The ancient laws of the Roman Emperor Justinian held that the seashore and the seas constitute a common heritage and that they ought to be open to all. This principle became the law in England as well. Subsequently in the Magna Carta these public rights were further strengthened at the insistence of the nobles that fishing weirs which obstructed free navigation be removed from the rivers.

These rights were further strengthened by later laws in England and subsequently became part of Common the Law of the United States as established in Illinois Central Railroad v. Illinois 146 U.S. 387 (1892). In that case the Illinois legislature had granted an enormous portion of the Chicago harbor to a railroad. A subsequent legislature sought to revoke the grant, claiming that original grant should not have been permitted in the first place. The court held in that case that the common law public trust doctrine prevents the government from alienating the public right to the lands under navigable waters (except in the case of very small portions of land which would have no effect on free access or navigation).

In subsequent cases it was held that this public right extended also to waters which were influenced by the tides regardless of whether or not they were strictly navigable. This concept also has been found to apply to the natural resources (mineral or animal) contained in the soil and water over those public trust lands.