What is the key issue in the case of Gibbons v. Ogden?
The key issue of Gibbons v. Ogden is whether individual states or the federal government has the authority to govern commerce between the states by governing the use of navigable waters between them. The state of New York had given an exclusive license to Ogden to run a ferry service to New York. Gibbons tried to run another service to New York, but was not allowed, so he sued claiming that under the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution, the federal government controls commerce and traffic over navigable waterways between states and that New York acted illegally by preventing Gibbons from engaging in the same business that it had licensed Ogden to do.
