This court case started after their were conflicts regarding interstate trade in New York and New Jersey after the New York state government gave one company a monopoly. When Gibbon tried to break this monopoly up and challenge this ruling, the state court ruled that they could not change the monopoly granted.
He then appealed and had his case heard by the Supreme Court. This resulted in a unanimous decision for Ogden, breaking up the monopoly in terms of the navigation and use of waters for commerce. The Supreme Court ruled that this monopoly violated a federal law.
