The Commercial Clause refers to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution. It gives Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with native American tribes. (Francone) The Commercial Clause is important because it defines what commerce is within the United States and who can conduct it in what ways. The predecessor of the United States Constitution, the Articles of Confederacy, did not lend the United States federal government any sort of power over commerce. “Interpretation of the sixteen words of the Commerce Clause has helped define the balance of power between the federal government and the states and the balance of power between the two elected branches of the federal government …show more content…
Interestingly, the government may alter the course of navigable waters with no responsibility in regard to compensation to those whose lands the altered waterways affect. In the early years of the Union it was determined to cover interstate navigation in addition to trade, as enforcing the power of commercial regulation meant a need to develop, maintain, and regulate interstate travel; otherwise such power would be nearly useless. Gibbons v Ogden was the landmark Supreme Court decision in which this was determined; Ogden argued that a state could control trade within its own borders up to the state line, where power would be exercised by Congress up to the next state and that state would also control its own trade and navigation. Such a thing could only mean the unchecked creation and proliferation of monopolies and therefore harm the development of the young nation, and I think the Supreme Court made a wise decision when it ruled that commerce is more than traffic but it is a trade of commodities. Later on, the Supreme Court would distinguish between commerce and services, manufacturing, the direct and indirect effects of commerce, and activities at the national and state levels, such as how the Clause affected meat packers whose products crossed state lines from the farm to the dinner