Skip to main content

Sherman Antitrust Act

History abounds in ironies, and never more so than in the capriciousness with which it hands out enduring fame. Consider Sen. John Sherman, Republican of Ohio. His older brother, William Tecumseh, marched through Georgia into immortality in a single autumn.

First among all nations the United States made “restraint of trade” a crime, and voted an economic ideal into law. One of its most energetic exponents looks back on that unique, vague, and unenforceable bit of legislation: the Sherman Antitrust Act

We hope you enjoy our work.

Please support this magazine of trusted historical writing, now in its 75th year, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage.

Donate