USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Sherman Anti-Trust Act authorized the federal government to institute proceedings against trusts in order to dissolve them. Any combination “in the form of trust or otherwise that was in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states, or with foreign nations” was declared illegal.

Detailed explanation-2: -For more than a decade after its passage, the Sherman Antitrust Act was invoked only rarely against industrial monopolies, and then not successfully. Ironically, its only effective use for a number of years was against labor unions, which were held by the courts to be illegal combinations.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (26 Stat. 209, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1–7) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author.

Detailed explanation-4: -Violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act include practices such as fixing prices, rigging contract bids, and allocating consumers between businesses that should be competing for them. Such violations constitute felonies. As such, they may be punished with heavy fines or prison time.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Sherman Act (1890) outlawed anticompetitive activities (for example, when two or more companies conspire to set prices) and actions that create or attempt to monopolize a market.