The Supreme Court ruling in Gibbons v. Ogden dealt with trade between states. Summarize the issues involved in the case.

This decision granted to Congress the power to regulate interstate (and foreign) commerce. It was very influential in its interpretation of federal power in the United States. It empowered the federal government and indicated a beginning of more expansion of congressional power. After the decision, the government exercised to an increasing extent its authority over all interstate commerce, especially as legislation and the judiciary had affirmed that authority. Even state laws that regulated intrastate commerce could be overturned by Congress if it was even somewhat related to interstate commerce; for example, though workers' minimum wages in a state factory are not interstate, if those factory's goods are sold across state borders, then Congress has authority. Owing to this decision, congressional power continued to expand throughout the 20th century until it was limited in the court case United States v. E. C. Knight Co.

As the court read the Commerce Clause of the Constitution broadly in this case, that set the stage for federal government regulation of railroads, airlines, pipelines, etc. in the future. This case also resulted in the end of state monopolies on services relating to interstate commerce such as navigation and business competition was also stimulated. In addition, the end of navigational monopolies in some states such as New York and Louisiana made easier the settlement of the West.