Lesson 6: Social and Political Responses

Changing Relationship Between Business and Government

The question of regulating business becomes an important topic in the last decades of the 19th Century. New ways to organize a business led to bigger businesses, more of which crossed state lines. When the size of the business (i.e., Standard Oil) facilitated controlling an unfair share of the market, a monopoly resulted. The federal government established the Interstate Commerce Commission to monitor regulation of trade across state lines and enacted the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to regulate monopolies and protect competition.

Slaughterhouse Cases

Read the facts and decision of the following case. be prepared to discuss the related legislation that's passed in the years after the case.  

Slaughter-House Cases

Interstate Commerce and Anti-Trust Legislation

Anti-trust legislation is crucial in preventing monopolistic practices and fostering fair competition, while the regulation of interstate commerce ensures a level playing field, promotes economic efficiency, and prevents discriminatory trade practices across state borders.