A trust was a term used around the beginning of the 1900’s for a group of companies that, when combined, took control of the market. In 1890 the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed to prevent their formation but for years, and across multiple industries, it hadn’t been effective in controlling the formation of trusts. Teddy Roosevelt, in his first term in office, believed trusts harming the public should be broken up and he believed himself to be the man to do it.
Two large trusts he set his eyes on were the Northern Securites Company, a collection of railroad companies that worked together to eliminate competition, and the “Beef Trust”, companies who worked together to fix the prices of meat to the detriment of the public. Roosevelt’s first task was to use the power of the press to get congress to approve the Department of Commerce and Labor. The job of this department was to monitor anti-competitive practices across state lines. A year later the Supreme Court dissolved the Northern Securites Company and, soon after, the Beef Trust. These cases set the precedent for the breakup of future companies, also under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
