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Period: to
Progressive Era
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Interstate Commerce Act
Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act, creating the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to regulate the railroads. The Supreme Court interprets the ICC's powers so narrowly that it is rendered essentially powerless by the early twentieth century. -
Period: to
Progressive Era
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Sherman Antitrust Act
Congress passes the Sherman Antitrust Act to prohibit trusts (monopolies), which have grown rapidly over recent decades. This federal legislation supplements and further strengthens many preexisting state laws that lack the power to govern interstate commerce. Any contract, combination (monopoly or otherwise), or conspiracy in restraint of interstate and foreign trade is declared illegal. Violators will be charged with maximum penalties of a $5,000 fine and imprisonment for one year. Problematic -
Hatter Union
The hatters' union institutes a nationwide boycott of a non-union hat manufacturer in Danbury, Connecticut. The manufacturer sues the union for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act by unlawfully combining to restrain trade. -
Food and Drug Act
Congress passes the Pure Food and Drug Act in response to exposés of the patent-drug, meatpacking, and food industries. -
The Jungle
Socialist author Upton Sinclair publishes The Jungle, a sensationally graphic account of the meatpacking industry in Chicago's stockyards. Sinclair is trying to raise public awareness of corporate corruption and the deplorable conditions in which poor workers toil, but most of the resulting public outcry instead centers on demand for more food safety provisions. -
Taft Wins
President Roosevelt chooses Secretary of War William Howard Taft as his successor. Taft secures the Republican nomination and wins the presidency against Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan in November.