Thomas gibbons won the case Gibbons v Ogden in 1824 because he

Was able to prove that the federal government had the power to over rule the state law. This allowed Gibbons to use the waters through New York for Commerce. Ogden originally was the only one with the license which made it a monopoly. Once it crossed state lines it conflicted with federal law, specifically the Article 1 Section 8 of the constitution that Congress had exclusive national power over interstate commerce. This is what Gibbon's lawyer used as his defense.