• Monopolies and trust: Many industries were controlled by powerful trusts—big business groups that worked to control prices and eliminate competition. Two of the most famous examples were Standard Oil, run by John D. Rockefeller, and U.S. Steel, led by Andrew Carnegie. 

• Trust Busting: This was the push to break up monopolies and bring back fair competition. Roosevelt is well-known for taking on big companies like Northern Securities and Standard Oil, successfully breaking them apart. Standard Oil Breakup (1911):  Standard Oil, run by John D. Rockefeller, was the biggest and most powerful monopoly of its era. In 1911, the Supreme Court ruled that it broke the law under the Sherman Antitrust Act and ordered it to be split into smaller companies. 

• Sherman Antitrust Act (1890): The first federal act passed to outlaw monopolistic business practices. Though it was not strongly enforced at first, it became a key tool for later trust-busting efforts.

• Clayton Antitrust Act (1914): Strengthened the Sherman Act by clarifying what constituted illegal activities and exempting labor unions from being prosecuted under antitrust laws.

• Federal Trade Commission Act (1914): Established the FTC to monitor unfair trade practices and investigate potential monopolistic behavior.

Overall Sucess: The Progressive movement achieved significant successes in regulating monopolies and curbing the power of big businesses. Many large trusts were broken up, competition was restored in key sectors, and public accountability improved. 

Remaining Problems/Challenges:

Corporate Power:  Even with the reforms, big businesses found ways to stay influential, and new monopolies or oligopolies popped up in later years—just look at the rise of tech giants in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Labor Unrest: Laws like the Clayton Act helped protect unions but strikes and labor disputes kept happening because workers’ rights weren’t fully addressed.

Economic Inequality: While the era did crack down on some monopolies, it didn’t solve the problem of unequal wealth distribution, and economic inequality remained a major issue.

monopolies and trusts were central to the Progressive agenda because they symbolized the broader issue of corporate power over politics, the economy, and people's daily lives. They were seen as the root of many other social and economic problems, such as low wages, poor working conditions, and lack of competition. 

The media, particularly muckrakers like Ida Tarbell, played a critical role in exposing corporate corruption and building public outrage. Public support was crucial in pushing for reforms, as public pressure led to political action and anti-monopoly laws. 

• Not all of the Progressive Era’s goals were achieved:

One major obstacle was corporate resistance—big businesses had a lot of political and economic power, which made it hard to push through full-scale reforms. Many companies fought back in court, using legal loopholes to avoid being broken up or heavily regulated. On top of that, some of the reforms that did pass were later rolled back or weakened during the 1920s, a time when pro-business policies came back into favor. 

• 7/10 - The Progressives made real progress in breaking up monopolies and putting important regulations in place, but big businesses still managed to hold on to a lot of power, and the issue of economic inequality wasn’t fully solved. While the reforms had a big impact, they didn’t provide long-term solutions to every problem.