USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Clayton Antitrust Act was enacted in 1914 to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act. It outlaws certain practices not prohibited by the Sherman Act and helps the government stop a monopoly before it develops.

Detailed explanation-2: -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-3: -Section 2 of the Sherman Act makes it unlawful for any person to “monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations . . . ."

Detailed explanation-4: -Following the breakup of sugar, tobacco, oil, and meatpacking monopolies, big business didn’t know where to turn. There were no clear guidelines about what constituted monopolistic business practices.