Attorney General Philander Knox

Supreme Court Rules Against Beef Trust, Establishes Stream of Commerce Doctrine

| Importance: 8/10

On January 30, 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Swift & Co. v. United States that the Commerce Clause allowed the federal government to regulate monopolies that have a direct effect on interstate commerce, dealing a major blow to the “Beef Trust” cartel. The case followed …

U.S. Supreme Court Swift & Company Armour & Company Theodore Roosevelt Attorney General Philander Knox antitrust corporate-power supreme-court regulatory-enforcement progressive-era
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Justice Department Files Antitrust Suit Against Beef Trust Monopoly

| Importance: 8/10

In May 1902, while the Northern Securities case proceeded through the courts, Attorney General Philander Knox filed a second major antitrust suit under President Theodore Roosevelt against the “Beef Trust”—a cartel of six major meatpacking companies (Swift, Armour, Morris, Cudahy, …

Theodore Roosevelt Attorney General Philander Knox Swift & Company Armour & Company Morris & Company +2 more antitrust corporate-power regulatory-enforcement progressive-era food-industry
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Roosevelt Announces Northern Securities Antitrust Suit Against J.P. Morgan Railroad Trust

| Importance: 9/10

On February 19, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt’s Department of Justice announced plans to file an antitrust suit against the Northern Securities Company, a railroad holding company formed in November 1901 by J.P. Morgan, James J. Hill, and Edward H. Harriman to control the Great Northern …

Theodore Roosevelt Attorney General Philander Knox J.P. Morgan James J. Hill Edward H. Harriman +1 more antitrust corporate-power regulatory-enforcement progressive-era railroad-regulation
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