ABSTRACT
The state of New York required a state license to operate a ferry—in this case, to operate between New York and New Jersey. However, the federal government issued licenses to operate in interstate waters. In this case, the court ruled that interstate commerce did not just refer to the buying and selling of goods and services between parties of two or more states. Commerce, according to the court, also referred to any interaction that occurred between states. Thomas Gibbons was a steamboat ferry owner who operated between New York and New Jersey under the protection of a federal license established by a 1793 law. The Supreme Court, under chief justice John Marshall, ruled that New York overstepped its authority in creating a law that regulated interstate commerce. Regulation of interstate commerce, according to the Constitution, was a power reserved for Congress.
