Aaron Ogden was given an exclusive license by the New York state government to use his ferries on the Hudson River (NY to NJ). Ogden was outraged when he found out that Thomas Gibbons operated two ferries along the same route. Mr. Odgen believed that the state had given him exclusive rights to the route and filed an injunction against Mr. Gibbons.
The New York court supported Ogden’s claims and ordered Gibbons to stop using his boats; the New York Supreme Court also supported these findings.
When Thomas Gibbons looked to the U.S. Supreme Court, they ruled in his favor, claiming that the right of passage given to Ogden was a violation of the 1793 federal licensing act.
This Supreme Court ruling allowed congress to have much