22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 1 (1824)
In 1798 the New York Legislature granted Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton the exclusive right for twenty years to navigate the waters within the jurisdiction of the state with boats moved by fire or steam, a privilege later renewed and extended in 1803 and 1807.1 The right was assigned first to John R. Livingston and then to Aaron Ogden, who thereby claimed authority to operate steamboats between Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and New York City.2 Thomas Gibbons, meanwhile, took possession of two steamboats, the Stoudinger and the Bellona, which he employed in the same waters while holding a license issued under the federal Act of February 18, 1793, for enrolling and licensing vessels to be employed in the coasting trade and fisheries.3
Gibbons filed a bill in the Court of Chancery of New York against Ogden seeking an injunction to restrain Ogden from navigating those waters with steamboats.4 The bill recited the state grants and the assignment to Ogden, alleged that Ogden was violating the exclusive privilege, and prayed for injunctive relief.5 Gibbons answered that his vessels were duly enrolled and licensed under the 1793 federal statute and insisted on his right to navigate between Elizabethtown and New York notwithstanding the state legislation.6
The Chancellor awarded the injunction and, after hearing, perpetuated it on the ground that the New York acts were valid.7 The Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors, the highest court of the state to which the cause could be carried, affirmed the decree.8 Gibbons then appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.9
Whether the power of Congress to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States includes the regulation of navigation?10
The Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States.11 This power is plenary and complete in itself, acknowledging no limitations other than those prescribed in the Constitution itself.12 The term commerce comprehends navigation as an essential component of commercial intercourse between nations and parts of nations.13
Yes. The established facts demonstrate that Gibbons operated the Stoudinger and Bellona under a federal coasting license between Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and New York City.14 Because the power extends to navigation connected with commerce among the states, it reaches vessels propelled by steam on waters within New York that form part of interstate routes.15
The power of Congress to regulate commerce includes the regulation of navigation.16
Whether a federal license issued under the Coasting Act of 1793 confers upon a vessel the right to navigate between ports of different states that a state may not abridge?17
A license granted under the federal Act of February 18, 1793, for enrolling and licensing vessels in the coasting trade constitutes legislative permission to carry on that trade.18 The license transfers to the holder the right to navigate between ports of different states, and no state may interfere with the enjoyment of that right.19
Yes. Gibbons held a license under the 1793 federal statute for the Stoudinger and Bellona.20 The established facts show these vessels were employed in the coasting trade between New Jersey and New York.21 The license therefore conferred a right that New York could not abridge through its exclusive grant to Livingston and Fulton.22
A federal coasting license confers a right to navigate between ports of different states that a state may not abridge.23
Whether the New York statutes granting an exclusive privilege to navigate state waters with steamboats conflict with federal law and are therefore void?24
When a state law comes into collision with a valid act of Congress, the state law must yield because the Constitution and laws made in pursuance of it are the supreme law of the land.25 The New York acts granting an exclusive steamboat privilege directly conflict with the federal coasting license system.26
Yes. The established facts establish that Ogden claimed rights under the New York grants while Gibbons operated under a federal license on the same route.27 The state statutes prohibit what the federal license permits, creating a collision that renders the New York acts void to the extent of the conflict.28
The New York statutes granting an exclusive privilege to navigate state waters with steamboats conflict with federal law and are therefore void.29
Whether the power to regulate commerce among the several States is vested exclusively in Congress?30
Yes. The established facts show that New York exercised regulatory authority over interstate navigation by granting an exclusive privilege that directly affected commerce between New Jersey and New York.33 Because the power belongs exclusively to Congress, the state could not validly confer or enforce such a monopoly.34
The power to regulate commerce among the several States is vested exclusively in Congress.
Related opinions on this issue
Justice Johnson concurred in the judgment but rested his conclusion on materially different grounds from the majority.35 He viewed the power to regulate commerce as an original and inherent power of the national government, not merely incidental to other powers or derived solely from the constitutional grant.36 In his view, the grant to Congress transferred the whole of this sovereign power, leaving no residuum for the states to exercise concurrently.37
Because the New York monopoly directly regulated the same subject of interstate navigation that Congress had addressed through the coasting license system, the state law necessarily yielded to federal supremacy.38 Johnson emphasized that the historical context of conflicting state commercial regulations before the Constitution demonstrated the necessity of exclusive national authority to prevent destructive rivalries among the states.39