With the rise of the industrialists and the trusts that followed, the United States Congress started looking at limiting business power in the 1880s and 90s. The Sherman Antitrust Act was the first step in this direction. Large conglomerates had taken over oil, sugar, and refining, to name a few. Some viewed this as a threat. Competition was seen, to some extent, as a force to be controlled.
Buck Duke, as head of American Tobacco Company, lost no time in consolidating his enterprise. The corporation kept a tight leash on its distributors, jobbers, and suppliers. Farmers had to accept American Tobacco Company's prices or risk losing their perishable crop. American Tobacco Company cut prices to force out or absorb smaller competitors. Buck Duke diversified by merging several.....
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