Home Search Site About MultiEducator History Shopping For Educators American History World History Election Central NationbyNation Primary Source Documents 20th Century Almanac Aviation History Navy History Railroad History America's Wars Revolutionary War War of 1812 Mexican American Civil War Spanish American World War I World War II Korean War Vietnam War Desert Storm Enduring Freedom Iraqi Freedom Biographies Presidents First Ladies 20th Century 500 Amistadt Civics History of Israel Other Links About Historycentral Advertise Contact US

Regulating Commerce "The Congress shall have power ... to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes." This clause otherwise known as the commerce clause, gives Congress broad powers to set tariffs and insure the unimpeded flow of interstate commerce. The primacy of the federal government to regulate commerce was decided in the 1824 Supreme Court case, Gibbons v Ogden. At the time the Constitution was written, the Indian tribes were considered foreign nations.