Charles River Bridge Case

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Charles River Bridge Case

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Charles River Bridge Case decided in 1837 by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Charles River Bridge Company had been granted (1785) a charter by the state of Massachusetts to operate a toll bridge. The state later authorized (1828) a competing bridge that would eventually be free to the public. The Charles River Bridge Company brought suit against the competing company, claiming that the state charter had given it a monopoly. The court upheld the state's authorization to the other company, holding that since the original charter did not specifically grant a monopoly, the ambiguity in the contract would operate in favor of the public, thus allowing a competing bridge. The holding modified the Dartmouth College Case , which held that a state could not unilaterally amend a charter.

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Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge

The Oxford Companion to United States History | 2001 | | © The Oxford Companion to United States History 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837), Supreme Court ruling relating to corporate development.In 1650, the Massachusetts legislature gave Harvard College an exclusive right to operate a ferry from Boston across the Charles River to Charlestown. Under acts of 1785 and 1792, Massachusetts transferred all rights of Harvard's monopoly to the Charles River Bridge Company and gave that company a seventy‐year charter to operate a toll bridge between Charlestown and Boston. In 1828, the legislature chartered the Warren Bridge Company to build a new bridge that would revert to the state within six years after its completion. The stock owners of the Charles River Bridge complained that the charter for the new Warren Bridge violated its contract with the state. The Charles River Bridge Company argued that its original monopoly to operate the ferry included the bridge and that, in effect, the state had granted the company an exclusive right to operate a bridge between the two cities. The Charles River Bridge Company sued, citing the contracts clause of the U.S. Constitution (art. 1, sec. 9), which bars states from “impairing the Obligations of Contracts.”

By a vote of 4–3, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1837 upheld Massachusetts's right to charter the Warren Bridge. Writing for the Court, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled that the charter granted to the Charles River Company should be read strictly; it did not include the promise of a monopoly, and therefore the state had the power to charter a new company.

This ruling allowed new industries to develop alongside—and even to supplant—existing technologies and companies. It gave states flexibility in developing public policy toward industries and utilities. It encouraged more competitive enterprise yet allowed states to grant monopolies to enterprises that served the public interest. Adhering to the logic of Charles River Bridge, however, states often included contract clauses enabling them to revoke all or some of the charter rights.
See also Business; Capitalism; Economic Development; Industrialization.

Bibliography

Stanley I. Kutler , Privilege and Creative Destruction: The Charles River Bridge Case, 1971.
Elizabeth B. Monroe , Abridging Vested Interest: The Battle of the Masschusetts Bridge, in Historic Supreme Court Cases: 1690–1990, ed. John Johnson, 1992, pp. 174–81.

Paul Finkelman

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Paul S. Boyer. "Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge." The Oxford Companion to United States History. Oxford University Press. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Paul S. Boyer. "Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge." The Oxford Companion to United States History. Oxford University Press. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (November 12, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O119-CharlesRiverBrdgvWrrnBrdg.html

Paul S. Boyer. "Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge." The Oxford Companion to United States History. Oxford University Press. 2001. Retrieved November 12, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O119-CharlesRiverBrdgvWrrnBrdg.html

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The Oxford Guide to the United States Government | 2001 | | © The Oxford Guide to the United States Government 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

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John J. Patrick, Richard M. Pious, and Donald A. Ritchie. "Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge." The Oxford Guide to the United States Government. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

John J. Patrick, Richard M. Pious, and Donald A. Ritchie. "Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge." The Oxford Guide to the United States Government. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (November 12, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O89-CharlesRiverBrdgvWrrnBrdg.html

John J. Patrick, Richard M. Pious, and Donald A. Ritchie. "Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge." The Oxford Guide to the United States Government. 2001. Retrieved November 12, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O89-CharlesRiverBrdgvWrrnBrdg.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article How to teach an old bridge new tricks: CMI-Promex's Ridex[R] system breathes new life into MBCR's century-old Charles River Bridge.
Magazine article from: Railway Age; 11/1/2007
Free Article Bridges get a closer look; State officials conducting inspections at 14 locations.(NEWS)
Newspaper article from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA); 8/12/2007
Free Article Bridge repairs to add jobs; $3B lined up to fix spans.(NEWS)
Newspaper article from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA); 2/13/2009

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