History of the United States II / Unit 5 USH2 0612 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act
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The idea
President Benjamin Harrison signed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act on July second, eighteen ninety, the first federal law against monopolistic business practices.
In practice
Any combination "in the form of trust or otherwise" in restraint of trade declared illegal.
Where people slip
The National Archives notes it was loosely worded and failed to define trust or monopoly. It was seldom enforced in its first decade.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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