HIST 222 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Sherman Antitrust Act, Interstate Commerce Act Of 1887, Standard Oil
Document Summary
Trust busting : during the gilded age and after, the law, as well as many politicians, favored laissez faire and big business over the interests of workers, the environment, etc. Interstate commerce act of 1887 shifted the regulation of interstate commerce from state governments to the federal government. Today, the icc is a federal agency that regulates, for example, the trucking and railroad industries: sherman anti-trust act of 180 held that monopolies that unreasonably restricted trade and competition were unlawful. Unreasonable was so subjective that corporations easily skirted the law: clayton act of 1917 tightened the sherman act and removed ambiguous language. Congress also created the federal trade commission (fcc) to help enforce the clayton act. Muir believed that important federal land should be preserved, with development forbidden, to be used as national parks for the enjoyment of every citizen: gifford pinchot was the first secretary of the interior.
