Sherman Antitrust Act essays

Sherman Antitrust Act essays The Sherman Antitrust Act was first enacted in 1890 by the United States Congress. The act was named for U.S. Senator John Sherman because he was an expert on the regulation of commerce and he first proposed the act. The purpose of this law was to stop a business from having the sole power over one industry. This was the first time that legislature passed a law to forbid the consolidation of power in one company to the disadvantage of another. The purpose of the law was to stop all companies that had previously agreed to only trade between themselves for the purpose of monopolizing trade, thus causing a halt in trade between states and nations. This act also outlawed agreements to fix prices, limit industrial output, share markets or exclude competition. Another purpose that the act serves is to make it illegal to monopolize any part of trade or commerce. If anyone is found violating this act, any person or company that is injured can sue for triple the amount of damage don e to them. The first time that the act was used heavily was during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt in 1901-1909. In 1914, Congress passed two more legislative measures to help strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act. One of the two was the Clayton Antitrust Act. The other measure created the Federal Trade Commission, which gave the government power to investigate violations of the antitrust legislation. One example of the antitrust legislation being used in the twentieth century was when the American Telephone ...