Gibbons v. Ogden · ¶119

Commerce, in its simplest signification, means an exchange of goods; but in the advancement of society, labour, transportation, intelligence, cáre¿ and various mediums of exchange, become commodities, and enter into commerce; the subject, the vehicle, the agent, and their various operations, beeome the objects of commercial regulation. Ship building, the carrying trade, and propagation of seamen, are such vital agents of commercial prosperity, that the nation which could not legislate over these subjects, would not possess power to regulate commerce.

U. S. Reports, bound volume
U. S. Reports, volume 22, at 1 (Library of Congress) · transcription: Caselaw Access Project
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