History of the United States II / Unit 5 USH2 0615 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Two Sherman Acts
The idea
Congress passed two laws named for Senator John Sherman in eighteen ninety, and they are different laws with different logic. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act attacked monopolies, outlawing combinations in restraint of trade. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act addressed the money supply, requiring the Treasury to buy four and a half million ounces of silver a month. One answered the trusts; the other answered the farmers' demand for more money.
In practice
One law aimed at Standard Oil and the sugar refiners, another at the price of wheat and cotton.
Where people slip
The trap is assuming one Sherman law did both. Ask what each targeted: business combinations, or the currency. The anti-trust act survived and was strengthened later; the silver act was repealed within three years. Unit six shows the anti-trust law finally put to use.
Your place on the trail
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Unlocks
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