President Benjamin Harrison

Coeur d'Alene Miners Strike Violence Triggers Martial Law, 600 Imprisoned Without Trial

1892-07-11 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

Violent confrontation erupts between striking silver and lead miners and company guards at mines in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after union workers discover a Pinkerton agent has infiltrated their organization and routinely provided confidential union information to mine owners. The violence follows …

Western Federation of Miners Pinkerton Detective Agency Idaho National Guard U.S. Army General J.M. Schofield +2 more labor-suppression gilded-age mining-industry martial-law federal-intervention +1 more

Sherman Antitrust Act Passed but Designed for Non-Enforcement Against Monopolies

1890-07-02 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

On July 2, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed the Sherman Antitrust Act into law after it passed the Senate 51-1 (April 8) and the House 242-0 (June 20), creating America’s first federal anti-monopoly legislation—but the law was deliberately vague, weakly worded, and systematically …

Senator John Sherman President Benjamin Harrison U.S. Congress antitrust regulatory-failure political-theater gilded-age corporate-power