Gibbons v. Ogden
Channel: PublicResourceOrg
Date: 2008-01-21

Equal Justice Under Law

Gibbons v. Ogden (4th in a 4 part series).

Presents a conflict between the States and Congress over the authority to regulate commerce. In this case, which linked States' authority to license steamboats in federal waters with a seemingly unrelated issue, slavery, Chief Justice Marshall interpreted the Constitution to give the Federal Government the duty to determine the rules of commerce and established how to lay the foundation for an American common market nearly a century before Europe enjoyed it. 

Purchase of the tape of this video was made possible through a contribution by Joseph Kulhavy.