tional government, when an action by the national government is made in pursuance of the Constitution, are merely attempts to curb the power of the national government and are based on weak legal arguments. Ultimately, the theory that best reflects the needs of our country at the time of the Constitutional Convention and still does now is that of cooperative federalism. Gibbons v Ogden, 22 U.S. 1, illustrates perfectly the ideological beliefs held by cooperative federalists. The case involves the issue of federal authority versus state authority. New York State legislature passed a statute giving exclusive rights to use steam vessels in its territory to two men who later received payment from Ogden in order to have exclusivity to navigate a certain route. Thomas Gibbons sailed the waters with a federal license and Ogden successfully petitioned the courts for an injunction that would prohibit Gibbons from sailing the route. The Supreme Court made several remarks in its reversal of the injunction that directly support the ideas behind cooperative federalism. “It has been said that these powers (enumerated) ought to be construed strictly…Congress is authorized to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper…this limitation on the means which may be used is not extended to the powers which are conferred; nor is there one sentence in the constitution…that prescribes this rule. That narrow construction would cripple the government…we cannot perceive the propriety of this strict construction, nor adopt it.”(Ducat,pp.277-278) As evidenced by this statement, the decision rejected the primary tenet of the dualist theory, which requires a strict reading of the Constitution. The decision gave an expanded meaning to the word commerce, an issue that would gain relevance in future cases (i.e. Lottery Case). The decision also cemented that completely internal commerce, which does not affect other states, was an ...
