Gibbons+Vs+Ogden

Shayna Brickman and Elizabeth Hentschel

__**Gibbons Vs. Ogden**__ **what's this?**


 * 1) __Case title:__ **//Thomas Gibbons, Appellant v. Aaron Ogden, Respondent //


 * //2) //**** __Date of Hearing:__ **March 2nd, 1824


 * //3) //**** __Chief Justice:__ **John Marshall
 * __Biographical sketch: __**He was the Chief Justice of the United States during 1801-1835. He was the longest-serving Chief Justice and played a significant role in the development of the American legal system. He made the Supreme Court a coequal branch of government and was a leader of the Federalist Party. He was also the Secretary of State under President John Adams. He constructed and defended the foundation of judicial power and the principles of American Federalism. He was born in Virginia in 1755. He was the eldest of 15 children and his father was a sheriff. His parents provided his schooling, with instruction afforded by a clergyman who lived with the family. He joined the Continental army and served under George Washington. He rose to the rank of captain and then decided to become a lawyer. He studied law and received his license in 1780. When Adams’ __chief justice__ resigned due to ill health, Adams sent the senate the nomination of John Marshall to be chief justice. Marshall was sworn in on February 4th.


 * 4) __Documents or Amendments to the Constitution relevant to the case:__ **Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution (Commerce Clause), dealt with conflicting Federal and State Laws.

The Legislature of the State of New York granted Robert Livingston and Robert Fulton the navigation privileges of all the waters within the jurisdiction of that State, with boats moved by fire or steam. They granted a license to Aaron Ogden to basically start a monopoly. Gibbons operated a competing steamboat service between Elizabethtown, New Jersey and New York City that had been licensed by the United States Congress in regulating the coasting trade. Ogden filed a complaint and asked the Court of New York to restrain Thomas Gibbons from operating on these waters. The court sided with Gibbons because he had a federal license which was a legitimate exercise of the regulation of commerce. The New York State law creating a commercial monopoly was therefore void, since it conflicted with the regulatory power of the Federal Government in the performance of its constitutional responsibilities. The Court ruled that Gibbons must be allowed to operate within the waters of New York State. As a result of this decision, State-licensed monopolies on island waterways ended and business competition was encouraged.
 * 5) __Summary of the case/ Analysis in your own words:__ **




 * 6) ** **__Main Issue/Argument of the Case__**: Aaron Ogden had a problem with Thomas Gibbons running a competing steam boat business that ran between Elizabethtown, New Jersey and New York City. Thomas Gibbons had a federal permit to navigate steamboats in the Hudson River, while the other, Aaron Ogden, had a monopoly to do the same granted by the state of New York.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">7) **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> **__Decision rendered by the court plus the vote__** Chief Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of a unanimous (6-0) Court siding with Gibbons

**Cute graphic, but the licenses that the people are holding are incorrect.** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Court of Chancery of New York and the Court of Errors of New York found in favor of Ogden and issued an injunction to restrict Gibbons from operating his boats. Gibbons appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which reversed the decision giving 6 votes for Gibbons and 0 votes against him. Bushrod Washington, William Johnson, Thomas Todd, Gabriel Duvall, Joseph Story and Smith Thompson all voted in favor of Gibbons. Gibbons ended up winning the case.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">8) __Who voted what?__ **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">9) **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> **__Who were members of the court at that time and how long on the court?:__**

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Bushrod Washington - in office from December 20, 1798 - November 26, 1829 **I love this name!** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">William Johnson - in office from March 26, 1804 - August 4, 1834 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Thomas Todd - in office from March 3, 1807 - February 7, 1826 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Gabriel Duvall - in office from November 23, 1811 - January 12, 1835 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Joseph Story - in office from November 18, 1811 - September 10, 1845 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Smith Thompson - in office from September 1, 1823 - December 18, 1843


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">10)__What is your personal Opinion of the Case? Explain__ **

I believe that the case was ruled correctly, Gibbons won the case and he very well was entitled to win. If he hadn't had won then it would show that the __State Government__ has more power than the __congress__. If that had happened then it would lead to many problems because of it, involving other cases throughout America. The Congress should always have more power than the State __Legislature's__. **You kinda talked about this in the What If section too. Elaborate more.**

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">If the case had gone the other way it would have showed that the state law has more power than the actual government. Congress had control of matters dealing with interstate commerce, but Ogden and his lawyers believed that the states should have power with Congress on interstate commerce matters. Therefore, if it had gone the other way, it would have showed that the government was weak and had no overall power.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">11) __What if this case had gone the other way?:__ **

"Gibbons v. Ogden – Case Brief Summary." //Lawnix - Law Resources and Legal Information//. Lawnix. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.lawnix.com/cases/gibbons-ogden.html>.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Bibliography: __**

"Gibbons v. Ogden." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Wikipedia, 3 Feb. 2012. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. [].

"Gibbons vs. Ogden Photos from Mr. Fit (Mr. Fit) on Myspace." //Myspace | Social Entertainment//. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.myspace.com/flyingbuddha/photos/15448278>.

"The Supreme Court . The First Hundred Years . Landmark Cases . Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) | PBS." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/landmark_gibbons.html>.

??? **7/7 Biblio - good job.** **24/28 Content - a little light, plus, what are the pic / painting of? Was this decision seen as positive for business or bad?** **4.5/5 Organization - watch capitalization errors.** **35.5/40 Total**