Gibbons Vs. Ogden, 1824
The case of Gibbons vs. Ogden was one of the deciding factors in the creation of a stable commercial system that would propel the United States into its current position as a World Power. New York, being influenced by Sectionalist ideals, created a law that obstructed the free flow of interstate trade. This was taken to the Supreme Court, where it was shown that not only did New York claim that the power of its own legislature was supreme to that of the entire nation, but the law was also a threat to the commercial system of the country. The issue of the stability of the Union was at stake - if the court chose to allow the states to have more say than the federal government, the country's internal structure would collapse. However, due to the Negro-Seamen Act in South Carolina and the fear of slaves being freed by an all-powerful Congress, Chief Justice John Marshall was faced with his choice to say that Congress was the supreme power over all commercial aspects would split the country and civil war would ensue. Thus, the court was forced into a "middle of the road" decision-they said that Congress had the power to legislate on the Commerce of the United States, as opposed to direct control. The Supreme
The situation leading to the hearing of the case in the Supreme Court began when Thomas Gibbons was persecuted by his competitor, Aaron Ogden, because he broke the New York Steamboat Act by navigating the Hudson River without a proper New York License. However, Ogden had the required License, so he was given the free reign of a monopoly after Gibbons was restricted from the New York waterways. Gibbons demanded that the New York License was wholly unnecessary the piloting of ships in New York waters. Gibbons justified this furthermore by stating that he already had a Federal license that met the standards of the Federal Coasting Act. The Federal Coasting Act provided licenses that allowed any boat owner to pilot their "fire and steam" powered boats on any waterway in the nation so long as they had a proper Federal license. Unfortunately, his argument did not hold up and Ogden sued him in New York State Courts. Gibbons lost the case, as it would have been close to impossible for Gibbons to win his point against stubborn and sovereign-minded New York. Having lost his livelihood to the strongheaded New York and the guile of Ogden, he made an appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court took great interest in the case, for it was a battle between the Sectionalist idea of the sovereignty of states and the uniform control of the nation under the Federal Government, and maintaining the power of the Federal Government was one of the obligations of the Supreme Court. The state of New York was, in effect, supporting a trend that could destroy the balanced economic system of the United States, and order needed to be restored. A further issue was that by instituting the Commerce Clause and placing the control of all Commerce and its related products in the hands of Congress. The South feared this greatly. Slaves were to be considered as products of Commerce, being classified as tradable property. This stimulated hate for the Commerce Clause and brought up threats of secession and civil war in the South. With the control of slaves in the hands of Congress, the Southern livelihood was at stake of being destroyed. The Southern slave-owners feared that enough opposition could be stirred up in the Congress that would permit those opposing the South to free the slaves, who would then fight back at their previous masters, resulting in a h
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1577
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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