The Sherman Anti-Trust Act

Throughout the 19th century, citizens witnessed the birth of business conglomerates, or trusts. Many people believed that this form of business organization restrained competition and led to price manipulation. John Sherman, an expert on commerce regulation and supporter of limiting trusts, was the chief author of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was the first United States Federal statute to prohibit trusts and limit monopolies. Although several states had previously ratified similar laws, they were only limited to interstate commerce. “With a dominating vote of 51 to 1 in the Senate and 242 to 0 in the House of Representatives, the anti-trust act was signed into ordinance by President Benjamin Harrison” (Society for …show more content…
The legislation was designed to ensure that the economic playing field remained competitive.
By the end of the 1800’s, the Federal Government encouraged the growth of big business. However, the emergence of trusts began to threaten the business market. By 1888, trusts had merged the majority of the U.S. manufacturing and mining industries into nationwide monopolies. Trusts began to dominate a number of major industries, thus destroying competition. Intense public opposition to the mass concentration of economic power led to the drafting of the legislation. Protests arose from both consumers, who were being damaged by high prices, and competitors in production, who were pushed out of business due to deliberate attempts by certain companies to keep other enterprises from entering the market. On July 2, 1890, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act sanctioned the Federal Government to dissolve trusts. According to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, it outlaws “every contract, combination, or conspiracy …show more content…
Because many points of this act were not specific, the Courts were left to decide if businesses fell under it. Five years after its passage, the Supreme Court dismantled the Sherman Anti-Trust Act due to its loose wording. Although, the Court’s ruling seemed to end government regulation of trusts, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act helped promote President Theodore Roosevelt’s trust-busting campaigns. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act ended up pushing weak companies out of trusts and into vertical combinations where corporations controlled the entire industry. Without trusts, big businesses became stronger than ever before. Also, instead of protecting consumers from monopolies, it protected less efficient businesses from competitors. The act ultimately weakened the free market and abused consumers. These negative effects of political intervention in free enterprise continue to this

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