The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

In 1990, the Sherman Antitrust Act was used against Microsoft for anti

competitive behavior against their competitors. The Sherman Antitrust

Act is still relevant even a century after it was passed in Congress.

The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed to combat the growing problem that trusts

and monopolies had become in the Gilded Age. The Sherman Antitrust Act would

later prove to be successful in breaking up large trusts such as the Standard Oil

Trust owned by John D. Rockefeller, and also Carnegie Steel owned by Andrew Carnegie.

What are monopolies and

trusts? Who

were involved with them?

Monopolies are business and corporations that control all

or most of a particular industry. Trusts are used to

control multiple companies, which are used to create

monopolies. Trusts were used by a lot of rich business

owners, especially during the Gilded Age. For Example,

John D. Rockefeller used trust to take over the oil industry.

Why were monopolies

a problem to

the American economy?

Monopolies made possible by Trusts, became a problem since

they ended most competition. They can keep high prices since

there is no real competition. This makes it harder for the

average person to make do with the same amount of money. It also

made it easier for the corporation to not innovate and be

efficient.This also gave them too much power over the

government. This is why is monopolies were and still

are a serious problem to the American economy.

How was the Sherman

Antitrust Act used

to break up monopolies and

trusts? How did that make

America a better place to live?

The Sherman Act banned corporations from restricting

trade. It made it possible for the U.S government to

break up the trusts and monopolies since they restricted

trade. Although it was initially used to break up the

Unions, but by 1900s the Sherman Act was being used to

break up monopolies and trusts, and not unions. This

forced companies to be competitive which meant they

had to offer lower prices, and better products.

Conclusion

I have explored and made it clear why the Sherman Antitrust Act was

passed and how it makes America a better place to live. I started

with defining what a monopoly and trusts are. I then go on to

explain how the Sherman Antitrust Act was used to break up monopolies

and trusts and how that made America a better place to live.

The Sherman Antitrust Act has slowly made America a better place

to live by enabling the U.S government to break monopolies that

normally make low quality products and do not innovate.