Excerpt from the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887

Public Law 49-41, February 4, 1887

Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789–

General Records of the United States Government, 1778–1992

Record Group 11

National Archives

Excerpt from the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

U.S. Code, Title 15, Chapters 1-7

Published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the largest industries in the United States enjoyed tremendous growth under the direction of a few very rich and powerful men. Financial investors J. P. Morgan (1837–1913) and Jay Gould (1836–1893), oil businessman John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937), railroad chief Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877), and steel boss Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) all built huge, highly profitable corporations that were more extensive and complex than any that had previously existed in the country. These men exercised a great amount of influence over the business world and national affairs...