Which case established that Congress can regulate interstate commerce including navigation?

• A. Gibbons v. Ogden
• B. Wickard v. Filburn
• C. United States v. Morrison
• D. National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius

Answer: (A)

Regulatory power over interstate commerce includes activities like navigation that cross state lines. In Gibbons v. Ogden, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress has authority to regulate navigation as part of interstate commerce, even when a state grants a monopoly or attempts to control routes between states. The Court held that the federal license for competing steamboat operations supersedes inconsistent state laws, because navigation is a channel of commerce among the states and thus falls under federal power.

This broad interpretation set the stage for Congress to regulate not just trade in goods, but the entire flow of commercial intercourse across state borders. The other cases build on or constrain that broad view in different ways, but Gibbons v. Ogden is the foundational decision establishing that Congress can regulate interstate navigation as part of commerce.