The United States v. United States Steel Corporation
A Justified Antitrust Lawsuit
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.370Keywords:
antitrust, supreme court, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, US Steel, Trustbusting, Monopoly, US v. USS, Progressive Era, Tennessee Coal and Iron CompanyAbstract
Though not the sole cause for the estrangement between Taft and Roosevelt, the U.S. v U.S. Steel Corp. lawsuit aggravated the underlying tension. In 1907, with an intent to “save the market”, U.S. Steel obtained permission from president Roosevelt for the acquisition of Tennessee Coal and Iron Company to avoid prosecution under the Sherman Antitrust Act. However, in November 1911, under Taft’s administration, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against U.S. Steel, accusing it of attempting to reduce competition and create a monopoly through the purchase of Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. This paper explores the antitrust lawsuit of that case. In doing so, this paper argues that Taft’s administration was correct in filing the US v. USS lawsuit because it exposed US Steel’s monopolistic motives and increased competition. This paper will first present the context of the Progressive Era, the role of muckrakers in antitrust, other major antitrust cases at the time and background information for the US v. USS case. Then it will uncover US Steel’s deceit in acquiring permission for the purchase of Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. Next, it will examine Theodore Roosevelt’s involvement in the lawsuit. Subsequently, it will analyze the Taft administration’s involvement in the court case. Finally, it will delve into the supreme court case and the implications of the final ruling in 1920.
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