<P> Steamboats profoundly altered the relationships between the federal government, state governments, and private property owners . Livingston and Fulton had obtained monopoly rights to operate a steamboat service within the state of New York, but Thomas Gibbons, who operated a competing New Jersey ferry service, was enjoined from entering New York waters under the terms of the monopoly . In 1824, the Supreme Court ruled in Gibbons v. Ogden that Congress could regulate commerce and transportation under the Commerce Clause which compelled the state of New York to allow steamboat services from other states . </P> <P> Because the physics and metallurgy of boilers were poorly understood, steamboats were prone to boiler explosions that killed hundreds of people between the 1810s and 1840s . In 1838, legislation was enacted that mandated boiler inspections by federal agents under the threat of revocation of the operator's navigation licenses and lowered the threshold for liability in suits arising from such accidents . While Americans long resisted any government's power to regulate private property, these new rules demonstrated that many Americans believed that property rights did not override civil rights and set the precedent for future federal safety regulations . </P> <P> Role of industry & technology in causes, conduct & operations, reconstruction </P> <Ul> <Li> Samuel Colt--Invented the revolver, the first repeating pistol </Li> <Li> John Browning - guns </Li> </Ul>

What innovation has had the most influence on expanding the american economy