What Is The Commerce Clause?

Over the course of our time the commerce clause has been a primary source for regulatory expansion of the nation’s government. This leads me to my first question. What is the Commerce Clause? The Commerce Clause which can be found in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of our Constitution states that it gives congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among several states, and with the Indian Tribe. In the business world this clause tends to have the most impact over any other clause that is stated in the United States Constitution. It was merely placed in our Constitution to ensure that states could not establish laws or regulations that would hinder with trade and economic commerce.

The term “commerce” means business or commercial exchanges in any and all of its forms between citizens in different states. These exchanges may take place in
numerous forms, such as: telephones, radios, or in person face to face. As the nation grew the problems also grew, but so did commerce.

There is more than one form of commerce, but two of the main forms are interstate and intrastate. Interstate commerce is the exchange of commodities between citizens of different states. Intrastate commerce is the trade that occurs solely within the borders of one state. The Commerce Clause lists certain powers for the federal government over the economy. It has expanded its powers over time. The intent of the Commerce Clause was to make it an equal playing field among the states and to reduce rivalry among the states.

The Commerce Clause has played a huge role in our economy for decades.
For example, one of the first major challenges to practice this clause was in 1824, which was the Gibbson vs Ogden case. In this case the State of New York passed a law that allowed Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston a monopoly on steamboat traffic on the Hudson Bay. Fulton and Livingston stopped boats that operated without their support and forced them to get permits. Aaron Ogden had a license from the State of New York to travel from New York City to New Jersey. Ogden then found himself having to compete with Thomas Gibbson who had been granted permission to use this path by the Federal Government. The State of New York refused to give Gibbson the right away to the Hudson Bay, so in retaliation he sued Ogden. The case ended up going before the Supreme Court, and Chief Justice John Marshall made it known in this case that the intent of the Constitution was to have congress, not the states, regulate interstate commerce. His decision ruled that congress could under the Constitution regulate activities that affected the interstate
commerce.

In conclusion the Commerce Clause tends to play a huge role in our economic growth. It has expanded drastically over the years and continues to expand today.