Gibbons v. Ogden

Let's trace the arc.

We begin in the nineteenth century with Gibbons v. Ogden in eighteen twenty-four.

Gibbons involved a dispute over steamboats.

The state of New York tried to grant a monopoly to certain operators to navigate the waters between New York and New Jersey.

So having angered a bunch of people by talking about the important role that big businesses played in growing the American economy in the 19th century, I will now anger the rest of you by talking about the important role that the state played.

In the 1830s, states began passing general incorporation laws, which made it easier to create corporations, and the Supreme Court upheld them and protected them from further interference in cases like Gibbons v. Ogden, which struck down a monopoly that New York had granted to one steamboat company.

and the Charles River Bridge case, which said that building a second bridge over the Charles River did not infringe upon the charter of the first bridge.

In both those cases, the Court was using its power to encourage competition.