[Fulton, Robert, and Robert Livingston]:

$850 · Offered by William Reese Company

THE OPINIONS OF THE JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT, DELIVERED IN THE COURT OF ERRORS, IN THE CASE OF ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON AND ROBERT FULTON, vs. JAMES VAN INGEN, AND TWENTY ... Since the 1790s steamboat inventor Robert Fulton and his business partner, Robert Livingston, had enjoyed a monopoly on steamboat navigation in New York State. In 1811 that monopoly was challenged by a group of steamboat operators, including James Van Ingen. A New York chancery court, led by Judge John Lansing, ruled against Fulton and Livingston, who appealed the decision to the New York Court of Errors, "the court of last resort in the state." The three judges of that court (Yates, Thompson, and Kent) ruled unanimously in favor of Livingston and Fulton, declaring that their "exclusive right to navigate the waters of this state by boats propelled by fire or steam, is constitutional." In their introduction the judges state that they hope their decision will finally put "at rest a controversy which has agitated the state, and deeply interested its welfare." Fulton and Livingston's monopoly held until 1824, when the case of Gibbons vs. Ogden asserted that the federal government had greater power over interstate commerce than the individual states, and such state-granted monopolies were broken. The opinion of each judge of the Court of Errors is printed in full, and each opinion is separately paginated.

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