1 -2. How successful were business people in overcoming the problems that confronted them in the last third of the nineteenth century?
Around the 1900s , “the United States became an industrial power by tapping North America’s vast natural resources, including minerals, lumber, and coal, particularly in the newly developed West” (Henretta 512). This helped produce an plenty of energy for industrial machines while also providing electricity to residential homes for the first time. This changed the American economy. New markets emerged and consumer preferences changed. Gross Domestic began to rise and businesses sought ways to capitalize on the growing economy. As consumer demand increased, so did the entrants into these markets. Competition …show more content…
This became known as the Progressive Movement because “they engaged in diverse, energetic movements to improve American life. (Henretta 599). From middle-class Americans to the President, leaders sought to fix the economic, political, and cultural issues that had arisen from the growth of capitalism in America. For instance, under President Roosevelt’s leadership, Progressives sought to regulate railways and breakup conglomerates. President Wilson continued the effort by focusing on economic and labor reform. While the Progressive Movement helped reduce political corruption like the spoils system and passed antitrust legislation, it failed on race …show more content…
First, in 1890, congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to outlaw monopolistic business practices. Despite a near unanimous vote in both chambers, the act “proved difficult to enforce and was soon weakened by the Supreme Court” (Henretta 603). Next, congress passed the Clayton Anti-Trust Act in 1914. This legislation significantly expanded the government 's role in regulating business by prohibiting mergers and acquisitions if the effect “may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly” XXX(15 U.S. Code § 18). Finally, that same year, congress passed the Federal Trade Commission Act which bans “unfair methods of competition” and “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” (FTC). The combination of these efforts intended to protect consumers from monopolistic and aggressive business people for the best interest of the
Around the 1900s , “the United States became an industrial power by tapping North America’s vast natural resources, including minerals, lumber, and coal, particularly in the newly developed West” (Henretta 512). This helped produce an plenty of energy for industrial machines while also providing electricity to residential homes for the first time. This changed the American economy. New markets emerged and consumer preferences changed. Gross Domestic began to rise and businesses sought ways to capitalize on the growing economy. As consumer demand increased, so did the entrants into these markets. Competition …show more content…
This became known as the Progressive Movement because “they engaged in diverse, energetic movements to improve American life. (Henretta 599). From middle-class Americans to the President, leaders sought to fix the economic, political, and cultural issues that had arisen from the growth of capitalism in America. For instance, under President Roosevelt’s leadership, Progressives sought to regulate railways and breakup conglomerates. President Wilson continued the effort by focusing on economic and labor reform. While the Progressive Movement helped reduce political corruption like the spoils system and passed antitrust legislation, it failed on race …show more content…
First, in 1890, congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to outlaw monopolistic business practices. Despite a near unanimous vote in both chambers, the act “proved difficult to enforce and was soon weakened by the Supreme Court” (Henretta 603). Next, congress passed the Clayton Anti-Trust Act in 1914. This legislation significantly expanded the government 's role in regulating business by prohibiting mergers and acquisitions if the effect “may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly” XXX(15 U.S. Code § 18). Finally, that same year, congress passed the Federal Trade Commission Act which bans “unfair methods of competition” and “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” (FTC). The combination of these efforts intended to protect consumers from monopolistic and aggressive business people for the best interest of the