What are channels of interstate commerce?The conduits by which interstate commerce flows, including highways, waterways, railways, air space, telephone lines, the Internet, etc. These channels are subject to federal regulation.
What did the Supreme Court hold in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)?This case involved New York trying to grant a monopoly on waterborne trade between New York and New Jersey. Judge Marshal, of the Supreme Court, sternly reminded the state of New York that the Constitution gives Congress alone the control of interstate commerce. Marshal's decision, in 1824, was a major blow on states' rights. Congress has the right to regulate commerce.
What did the Supreme Court hold in Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)?The Court held that the Child Labor Law of 1916, which prohibited the interstate transportation of products made by children in violation of the Act, was unconstitutional. The Court reasoned that Congress was trying to regulate the manufacturing process using the commerce clause and that the employment of children was not directly related to interstate commerce. The Court felt that Congress should not impinge upon the states' police power.
What did the Supreme Court hold in Northern Securities Company v. United States (1904)?The Court found that a holding company formed solely to eliminate competition between the two railroads was in violation of the Federal Anti-Trust Act because it unreasonably restrained interstate and international commerce. The Court ruled that Congress could use its Commerce Clause authority to regulate conspiracies intended to eliminate competition between otherwise competitive railroads.


What is the Sherman Anti-Trust Act?An Act of Congress passed in 1890 that outlawed all contracts and combinations of companies that had the effect of restraining trade and commerce or eliminating competition.
What did the Supreme Court hold in A. L. A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935)?The Court held that the delegation of power to set ''codes of fair competition'' to the president by the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 was unconstitutional. Additionally, the Court held the NIRA exceeded federal authority under the Commerce Clause by attempting to regulate an intrastate activity like chicken slaughter with only indirect effects on interstate commerce.
What is selective inclusiveness?Courts deciding what commerce is national and what is local. (Cooley Doctrine)
What is the Shreveport doctrine?The constitutional position, adopted by the Supreme Court in Houston, E. & W. Texas Railway Co. v. United States (1914), that the federal government has the power to regulate intrastate commerce when a failure to regulate would cripple, retard, or destroy interstate commerce.


What is the stream of commerce doctrine?The constitutional position, articulated by the Supreme Court in cases such as Swift & Company v. United States (1905), that the federal government has the power to regulate interstate commerce from the point of its origin to the point of its termination. Interruptions in the course of that interstate movement do not suspend Congress's right to regulate.
What did the Supreme Court hold in Swift v. United States (1904)?The Supreme Court of the United States held that although the price fixing related to stockyard activities which occurred in one state, they were a part of a ''stream of interstate commerce'' and, therefore, could be regulated by the federal government under the commerce clause of the United States Constitution.
What were the Four Horsemen?The name given to a group of four conservative justices (Willis Van Devanter, James Clark McReynolds, George Sutherland, and Pierce Butler) who unfailingly voted to strike down economic regulatory laws enacted as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's attempts to combat the depression.
What was the Great Depression?The nation's most severe economic crisis that began with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929 and extended through the 1930s.


What did the Supreme Court hold in United States v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895)?The Court held that the federal government could not regulate sugar refineries since they were ''manufacturing operations'' that were not directly related to interstate commerce. States, under the Tenth Amendment, have the reserved power to regulate ''local activities,'' such as manufacturing. The decision allowed the American Sugar Refining Company to dominate the sugar refining industry.
What did the Supreme Court hold in Stafford v. Wallace (1922)?The Court held that the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 was a valid application of congressional authority to regulate interstate commerce. The Court found that business done in the stockyards, although confined to one state, was an essential part of the stream of interstate commerce and thus subject to national legislation.
What did the Supreme Court hold in Champion v. Ames (1903)?The Court held that trafficking lottery tickets constituted interstate commerce that could be regulated by Congress under the Commerce Clause. Congress may use its power to regulate commerce in order to police social problem, like gambling, and is not required to use commerce regulations for economic ends only.
What is police power?The general authority of governments to pass laws to protect health, safety, welfare, and public morality. State governments possess general police police. The federal government is a limited government, however, and does not possess general police power. Federal laws must be based on enumerated (or implied or inherent) powers.