Question

What was the purpose of the interstate commerce act (1887) and the sherman antitrust act (1890)?

Answer 1

The Interstate Commerce Act was to monitor railroad operations. During the 1870s a number of countries tested numerous programs developed to regulate railroad rates and practices, and those subjects were also repeatedly examined by the Congress. In 1886 the Supreme Court held, in the Wabash Case, that state governments could not regulate federal shipments within their borders. In response to that decision, Congress adopted the first federal program for regulating private business which is the Interstate Commerce Act. While, the Sherman Antitrust Act, it is an act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1890 to battle monopoly and inappropriate restraints on competition. It was also to break up bad trusts that were affecting the economy. But, it was unsuccessful because there was no clear meaning as to what a trust or bad trust was. So it was later replaced with the Clayton Antitrust Act.