"Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is hereby declared to be illegal... Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize... any part of the trade or commerce among the several States... shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor." — Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890
The political cartoon depicts a common Gilded Age critique that the Sherman Act was intended to address. Which complaint does it best illustrate?
- Acheck_circle
That corporate trusts exercised disproportionate influence over the U.S. Senate
- B
That state governments were nullifying federal tariffs
- C
That immigrants were displacing native-born workers in factories
- D
That farmers were forming cooperatives to bypass commodity markets
Explanation
Joseph Keppler's 1889 "The Bosses of the Senate" portrayed monopolists as towering money bags looming over senators, capturing the popular fear of corporate capture of government that animated antitrust legislation.