Sherman Antitrust Act

A United States federal law enacted in 1890 that prohibits contracts, combinations, and conspiracies restraining interstate or foreign trade, as well as monopolization and attempts to monopolize.

Section 1 of the Sherman Act: The Sherman Act provision prohibiting contracts, combinations, and conspiracies that unreasonably restrain interstate or foreign trade. It addresses coordinated conduct among separate actors, the Act’s restraint-of-trade prohibition.
Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States: A 1911 Supreme Court case that broke up Standard Oil under the Sherman Act and articulated the rule of reason. The decision gave Section 1 a test based on unreasonable restraints rather than every restraint.
John Sherman: A United States senator from Ohio who sponsored the 1890 antitrust law bearing his name. His Senate leadership made the legislation a federal response to public concern about trusts.
United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division: The federal division responsible for enforcing United States antitrust laws through civil and criminal proceedings. It brings federal Sherman Act cases and seeks remedies for violations.
Section 2 of the Sherman Act: The Sherman Act provision prohibiting monopolization, attempted monopolization, and conspiracy to monopolize interstate or foreign commerce. It targets acquiring or maintaining monopoly power through exclusionary conduct.
United States v. American Tobacco Co.: A 1911 Supreme Court case that found the American Tobacco Company’s combination violated the Sherman Act and ordered its dissolution. Alongside Standard Oil, it demonstrated the Act’s use against dominant corporate combinations.
Trust (business): A business arrangement in which a small group of trustees controls multiple companies, often to coordinate or limit competition. The trust form supplied the law’s name and a prominent target of political criticism.
Antitrust law: Law that protects competition by regulating restraints of trade, monopolization, and other conduct that harms competitive markets. The Sherman Act is a central statute within this broader body of law.
Rule of reason: A legal standard that evaluates whether a restraint of trade has an unreasonable effect on competition. Courts use it to distinguish harmful restraints from ordinary business agreements under Section 1.
United States v. Alcoa: A 1945 appellate decision finding that Aluminum Company of America had monopolized the aluminum market in violation of the Sherman Act. The case shaped analysis of monopoly power and the distinction between acquiring and maintaining a monopoly.

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