SHERMAN ANTITRUST ACT
Joen Lee 11A
"... [a person] who merely by superior skill and intelligence...got the whole business because nobody could do it as well as he could was not a monopolist..(but was if) it involved something like the use of means which made it impossible for other persons to engage in fair competition."
- Senator George Hoar of Massachusetts (one of the authors of the Sherman act)
- Senator George Hoar of Massachusetts (one of the authors of the Sherman act)
By late 1800s, businesses combined with each other and formed “trusts”, which claimed a larger share of the market. Trusts executed predatory pricing, which is a pricing strategy where a product is set at a very low price, intending to drive competitors out of the market, or prevent potential competitors from entering one. If competitors or potential competitors cannot sustain equal or lower price, they cannot maintain their businesses.
Since major parties were concerned with trusts’ growing power and monopolies, John Sherman, an American Republican representative and senator from Ohio, proposed what would become the Sherman Antitrust Act, stating that “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 declared to be illegal.”
Sherman Antitrust Act passed the Senate by an overwhelming vote of 52–1 and President Benjamin Harrison signed the bill into law on July 2, 1890. Before the Sherman Antitrust Act, numerous states had passed similar laws, but they were limited to intrastate businesses. However, the concentration of economic power in large corporations and trusts eventually led Congress to pass the Sherman Antitrust Act. The act, based on the constitutional power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce, declared illegal every contract, combination (in the form of trust or otherwise), or conspiracy in restraint of interstate and foreign trade and set a fine of $5,000 and imprisonment for one year were as the maximum penalties for violating the act and monopolizing.
As a result of President Theodore Roosevelt's "trust-busting" campaigns, the Sherman Act was carried out with some success and in 1904 the Supreme Court disbanded the Northern Securities Company. President William Howard Taft in 1911 went against the Standard Oil trust and the American Tobacco Company. Antitrust action suddenly declined in the 1920s, but after Robinson-Patman Act and passed under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, antitrust action was vigorously resumed. As a result, the American Telephone and Telegraph monopoly was concluded in 1982.
Citation:
Book:
Bills and Debates in Congress Relating to Trusts
The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison
Websites:
http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/540115/Sherman-Antitrust-Act
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Sherman_Antitrust_Act.aspx
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h760.html
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/2
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/sherman-antitrust-act.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predatory_pricing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sherman#Sherman_Antitrust_Act
Since major parties were concerned with trusts’ growing power and monopolies, John Sherman, an American Republican representative and senator from Ohio, proposed what would become the Sherman Antitrust Act, stating that “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 declared to be illegal.”
Sherman Antitrust Act passed the Senate by an overwhelming vote of 52–1 and President Benjamin Harrison signed the bill into law on July 2, 1890. Before the Sherman Antitrust Act, numerous states had passed similar laws, but they were limited to intrastate businesses. However, the concentration of economic power in large corporations and trusts eventually led Congress to pass the Sherman Antitrust Act. The act, based on the constitutional power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce, declared illegal every contract, combination (in the form of trust or otherwise), or conspiracy in restraint of interstate and foreign trade and set a fine of $5,000 and imprisonment for one year were as the maximum penalties for violating the act and monopolizing.
As a result of President Theodore Roosevelt's "trust-busting" campaigns, the Sherman Act was carried out with some success and in 1904 the Supreme Court disbanded the Northern Securities Company. President William Howard Taft in 1911 went against the Standard Oil trust and the American Tobacco Company. Antitrust action suddenly declined in the 1920s, but after Robinson-Patman Act and passed under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, antitrust action was vigorously resumed. As a result, the American Telephone and Telegraph monopoly was concluded in 1982.
Citation:
Book:
Bills and Debates in Congress Relating to Trusts
The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison
Websites:
http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/540115/Sherman-Antitrust-Act
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Sherman_Antitrust_Act.aspx
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h760.html
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/2
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/sherman-antitrust-act.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predatory_pricing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sherman#Sherman_Antitrust_Act
Haymarket Square Riot
By Ethan Yu
Before the Haymarket Riot, many workers had to work for 60-hour weeks for six days at low wages and dangerous working conditions. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Union launched their nationwide movement for eight-hour day, starting on May 1st, 1886. Up to 500,000 people (not just workers) participated in this movement; 80,000 workers went on strike in Chicago alone. However, on May 3rd, 1886, the Chicago police force crushed the peaceful rally in the McCormick Reaper Plant and incited anger in many other labor activists and workers.
The Haymarket Square Riot was a rally on May 4th, 1886 in Haymarket Square, Chicago, protesting for the workers killed the day before by the police and continuing to support eight-hour days for workers. This skirmish consisted of a few head labor activists (Albert Parsons, Samuel Fielden), a crowd of around 1500, and the Chicago police force of 200 men. It started out as a peaceful rally with speeches; however, violence ensued when an unknown perpetrator threw a bomb in the middle of the crowd and caused confusion, leading policemen to fire their guns aimlessly for two whole minutes. Seven police officers and several civilians died, while hundreds of people were seriously injured.
After this, anti-labor sentiment arose. Anti-labor governments and organizations used this incident to crush more labor movements. Eight men known for their labor activism and foreign nationality were convicted for the Haymarket bombing; most of them were not at the scene. These men faced a controversial trial – with biased judges, and no solid evidence linking the convicted with the bombing. In the end, four men were hanged, one committed suicide before his death sentence, and three were pardoned from their death sentence after a new governor came to power.
The Haymarket Affair is remembered and celebrated on the first days of May even today.
Citations:
http://www.illinoislaborhistory.org/haymarket/the-story-of-the-haymarket-affair.html
http://www.history.com/topics/haymarket-riot
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/haymarket-square-riot.html
The Haymarket Square Riot was a rally on May 4th, 1886 in Haymarket Square, Chicago, protesting for the workers killed the day before by the police and continuing to support eight-hour days for workers. This skirmish consisted of a few head labor activists (Albert Parsons, Samuel Fielden), a crowd of around 1500, and the Chicago police force of 200 men. It started out as a peaceful rally with speeches; however, violence ensued when an unknown perpetrator threw a bomb in the middle of the crowd and caused confusion, leading policemen to fire their guns aimlessly for two whole minutes. Seven police officers and several civilians died, while hundreds of people were seriously injured.
After this, anti-labor sentiment arose. Anti-labor governments and organizations used this incident to crush more labor movements. Eight men known for their labor activism and foreign nationality were convicted for the Haymarket bombing; most of them were not at the scene. These men faced a controversial trial – with biased judges, and no solid evidence linking the convicted with the bombing. In the end, four men were hanged, one committed suicide before his death sentence, and three were pardoned from their death sentence after a new governor came to power.
The Haymarket Affair is remembered and celebrated on the first days of May even today.
Citations:
http://www.illinoislaborhistory.org/haymarket/the-story-of-the-haymarket-affair.html
http://www.history.com/topics/haymarket-riot
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/haymarket-square-riot.html
Knights of Labor
Justin Kim 11A
“It is a society of laborers which is about to be liberated from the ferrets of labor, and this society does no longer know of those other higher and more meaningful activities for the sake of which this freedom would deserve to be won.”
Founded in 1869, Philadelphia, The Knights of Labor is an organization composed of workers who were dissatisfied with the harsh labor during the nineteenth-century. It was established by Uriah Smith Stephens and was kept as a secret organization in order to prevent the employers from knowing the members of the union. These workers caused riots and went on strike all over the Northern states in order to cause chaos and meet their demands, and due to their secret nature, the government did not know the cause.
The union included all workers of any trade, skilled or unskilled. African Americans were also accepted joining the group. The Knights of Labor grew exponentially as the country changed by the influence of the union. However, in 1881, when Stephens was greatly ill, a new leader stepped in, replacing Stephens. His name was Terence Powderly. He abandoned the secretive nature of the union and publicly went against the factories and the government.
Banishment of the secretive nature ultimately led to the downfall of The Knights of Labor. Factories started to actively fire anyone suspicious of being a labor union member and the government deployed federal troops to suppress the riots. Many deaths occurred from the federal troops, from both the civilian and “Knights”. Furthermore, the media singled out The Knights of Labor for causing the riots, lowering the morale of the labor union members. Many Americans became wary of these unions and questioned the purpose of them.
After being criticized from both the civilian population and the government, many members quit the union. In 1890, the number of members drops from 700,000 to 100,000 and the number exponentially got smaller. This was the eventual downfall of the American heroes who have desired to receive a better treatment from the factories and the government. These workers tried to fulfill their goals but only some of these were passed. In conclusion, the American heroes of the Knights of Labor met an eventual downfall after continuously pushing themselves to conditions.
Works Cited
Lause, Mark. "Knights of Labor." Encyclopedia.com.GlamFamily, 2003. Web. 22 Dec 2014.
Staff, History.com. "Knights of Labor." History.com. A+E Networks, 2009. Web. 22 Dec 2014.
<http://www.history.com/topics/knights-of-labor>.
Voss, Kim. The Making of American Exceptionalism: The Knights of Labor and Class Formation in the Nineteenth
Century. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1993.
Weir, Robert E. Beyond Labor's Veil: The Culture of the Knights of Labor. University Park: Pennsylvania State
University Press, 1996.
PINKERTONS
Yvonne Lin & Hibiki Sato
"The [Molly Maguires] are a species of Thugs... Let Linden get up a vigilance committee. It will not do to get many men, but let him get those who are prepared to take fearful revenge on the [Molly Maguires]. I think it would open the eyes of all the people and then the [Molly Maguires] would meet with their just deserts."
- Allan Pinkerton, in a letter to George Bangs, on August 1875
- Allan Pinkerton, in a letter to George Bangs, on August 1875
The Pinkertons are the agents who belong to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which is one of the most successful detective agencies throughout the history of United States founded by Allan Pinkerton. Its most famous case was the prevention of an assassination of President Lincoln.
One of the Pinkertons’ main goals was to stop strikes and labor unions from forming. They broke numerous numbers of labor unions – one of them being Molly Maguires. Molly Maguires, with its members know as the “Mollies”, was an Irish secret labor union of coal miners in Pennsylvania. They were working under Franklin B. Gowen, who was the president of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. Anxious about the Mollies getting too powerful, Gowen hired the Pinkertons to help dismiss the Mollies.
The Pinkertons soon sent in an undercover spy, James McParland, to investigate on the Mollies. However, the Mollies were careful and left no actual evidence of their union. Gowen turned impatient and decided to force the Mollies to take action by lowering their pay by 20 percent. On January 1st, 1875, the Mollies decided to go on a strike.
On December 10, 1875 five people suspected of being Mollies were attacked by masked Pinkertons, with one man killed and two wounded. One man’s wife was shot dead on spot.
Hoping to end the strike, Gowen accused the leaders of the Mollies of conspiracy, and they were arrested on May 12, 1875. Six months later, the strike ended, and workers went back to work, accepting the 20 percent decrease in their wages.
Starting from January 18, 1876, members of the Mollies were unfairly accused of crimes by Gowen and McParland. Tom Munley was accused of the murders of three men. Even though the witness stated under oath that he had seen the murderer clearly, and that Munley wasn’t the murderer, the jury still accepted McParland's testimony that Munley had privately confessed to the murder. Munley was sentenced to death and executed on June 21, 1877.
Bibliography
Kelly, Martin. "Allan Pinkerton and his detective agency." AboutEducation.com.Web. Unknown Date.
Biaggio, Maryka. "The Pinkerton Detectives -- Good, Bad, and Ugly." HuffingtonPost.com.Web. Mar 2013.
McMahon, Mary. "What was the Pinkerton Detective Agency?" WiseGeek.coom.Web. Nov 2014.
Jenson, Richard. "The Molly Maguires." tigger.uic.edu.Web.Sep 2001.
One of the Pinkertons’ main goals was to stop strikes and labor unions from forming. They broke numerous numbers of labor unions – one of them being Molly Maguires. Molly Maguires, with its members know as the “Mollies”, was an Irish secret labor union of coal miners in Pennsylvania. They were working under Franklin B. Gowen, who was the president of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. Anxious about the Mollies getting too powerful, Gowen hired the Pinkertons to help dismiss the Mollies.
The Pinkertons soon sent in an undercover spy, James McParland, to investigate on the Mollies. However, the Mollies were careful and left no actual evidence of their union. Gowen turned impatient and decided to force the Mollies to take action by lowering their pay by 20 percent. On January 1st, 1875, the Mollies decided to go on a strike.
On December 10, 1875 five people suspected of being Mollies were attacked by masked Pinkertons, with one man killed and two wounded. One man’s wife was shot dead on spot.
Hoping to end the strike, Gowen accused the leaders of the Mollies of conspiracy, and they were arrested on May 12, 1875. Six months later, the strike ended, and workers went back to work, accepting the 20 percent decrease in their wages.
Starting from January 18, 1876, members of the Mollies were unfairly accused of crimes by Gowen and McParland. Tom Munley was accused of the murders of three men. Even though the witness stated under oath that he had seen the murderer clearly, and that Munley wasn’t the murderer, the jury still accepted McParland's testimony that Munley had privately confessed to the murder. Munley was sentenced to death and executed on June 21, 1877.
Bibliography
Kelly, Martin. "Allan Pinkerton and his detective agency." AboutEducation.com.Web. Unknown Date.
Biaggio, Maryka. "The Pinkerton Detectives -- Good, Bad, and Ugly." HuffingtonPost.com.Web. Mar 2013.
McMahon, Mary. "What was the Pinkerton Detective Agency?" WiseGeek.coom.Web. Nov 2014.
Jenson, Richard. "The Molly Maguires." tigger.uic.edu.Web.Sep 2001.
Sherman Antitrust Act
Jane & Elizabeth
"[e]very 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 declared to be illegal."
John Sherman
John Sherman
Signed into law on June 2, 1890, Sherman's Antitrust Act was the first law by the US government to protect consumers from abusive businesses that create environment for fair competition in a market economy. Because of the increase of development of business trusts, or conglomerate companies, that were developing, the major companies started to monopolize and dominate the economy. Competition decreased and prices increased, for big companies were able to manipulate prices as much as they wanted. However, with this law, monopolies that abused control were broken down. Though not all monopolies were outlawed, harmful ones, such as ones fixing prices, were broken down.
Previously, there had been laws with similar goals but only for intrastate businesses. To dissolve the proceedings against trust, Senator John Sherman, chairman of the Senate finance committee and Secretary of Treasury under President Hayes, eventually proposed the Sherman Antitrust Act. It passed the Senate on April 8, 1890, and the House unanimously on June 20, 1890. President Benjamin Harrison signed the bill into law on July 2, 1890.
Instead of taking unruly and possibly violent measures like the labor unions' strikes, the act took a more orderly, pacific approach towards providing what's best for the public by sustaining the amount of competition and providing a fairer grounds for companies. This act was effective and proved to be influential. It was further supplemented by Clayton Antitrust Act 1914 and broke up large companies such as AT&T in 1982 and the Standard Oil Company, which was one of the first industrial monopoly in America that, in 1911 when they monopolized petroleum industry.
Unlike labor unions who have unguaranteed compensation for the hours lost in strikes, the antitrust act not only didn't affect productivity, but also promised a legal and reasonable process.
Previously, there had been laws with similar goals but only for intrastate businesses. To dissolve the proceedings against trust, Senator John Sherman, chairman of the Senate finance committee and Secretary of Treasury under President Hayes, eventually proposed the Sherman Antitrust Act. It passed the Senate on April 8, 1890, and the House unanimously on June 20, 1890. President Benjamin Harrison signed the bill into law on July 2, 1890.
Instead of taking unruly and possibly violent measures like the labor unions' strikes, the act took a more orderly, pacific approach towards providing what's best for the public by sustaining the amount of competition and providing a fairer grounds for companies. This act was effective and proved to be influential. It was further supplemented by Clayton Antitrust Act 1914 and broke up large companies such as AT&T in 1982 and the Standard Oil Company, which was one of the first industrial monopoly in America that, in 1911 when they monopolized petroleum industry.
Unlike labor unions who have unguaranteed compensation for the hours lost in strikes, the antitrust act not only didn't affect productivity, but also promised a legal and reasonable process.
Pinkertons
Tanya Chang
“Vice may triumph for a time, crime may flaunt its victories in the face of honest toilers, but in the end the law will follow the wrong-doer to a bitter fate, and dishonor and punishment will be the portion of those who sin.”
― Allan Pinkerton
Founded by Allan Pinkerton in 1850, Pinkerton Detective Agency quickly became one of the most important crime detection and law enforcement groups in the United States. By the early 1890s, Pinkerton had employed more agents than there were members of the standing army of the United States.
During the labor strikes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Pinkerton mainly worked for the businessmen and company owners. One of the good examples was the Homestead Strike in 1892. The company’s owner Andrew Carnegie hired Pinkerton to protect the plant. Pinkerton surrendered in the end, but they did their best to defend the plant and restore the order. And as a legacy of the Pinkerton’s involvement in this incident, a bridge nearby Pittsburgh was named Pinkerton’s Landing Bridge.
The Pinkertons were also used as guards in coal and iron in cities such as Michigan and Pennsylvania. In 1870s, Franklin B. Gowen, the president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad hired Pinkertons to investigate the labor unions and the Molly Maguires in the company’s mine. Molly Maguires is a 19th century secret society of mainly Irish-American coal miners. Members of the Molly Maguires were accused of murder, arson, kidnapping and other crimes. Gowen believed that the Molly Maguires were responsible of the 50 men murdered in Schuykill County; most of the victims were the managers of the coalmines. So Pinkerton took the case and sent agent James McParland to work on the case. He infiltrated into the Mollies and spent 2 years collecting evidence about criminal activities. Due to the evidences collected by McParland in 1876-1877, 20 members of the Mollie were founded guilty of murder and were executed.
Citation:
http://www.pinkerton.com/history
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-pinkertons.html
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h769.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Strike
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkerton_(detective_agency)
During the labor strikes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Pinkerton mainly worked for the businessmen and company owners. One of the good examples was the Homestead Strike in 1892. The company’s owner Andrew Carnegie hired Pinkerton to protect the plant. Pinkerton surrendered in the end, but they did their best to defend the plant and restore the order. And as a legacy of the Pinkerton’s involvement in this incident, a bridge nearby Pittsburgh was named Pinkerton’s Landing Bridge.
The Pinkertons were also used as guards in coal and iron in cities such as Michigan and Pennsylvania. In 1870s, Franklin B. Gowen, the president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad hired Pinkertons to investigate the labor unions and the Molly Maguires in the company’s mine. Molly Maguires is a 19th century secret society of mainly Irish-American coal miners. Members of the Molly Maguires were accused of murder, arson, kidnapping and other crimes. Gowen believed that the Molly Maguires were responsible of the 50 men murdered in Schuykill County; most of the victims were the managers of the coalmines. So Pinkerton took the case and sent agent James McParland to work on the case. He infiltrated into the Mollies and spent 2 years collecting evidence about criminal activities. Due to the evidences collected by McParland in 1876-1877, 20 members of the Mollie were founded guilty of murder and were executed.
Citation:
http://www.pinkerton.com/history
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-pinkertons.html
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h769.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Strike
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkerton_(detective_agency)