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Sherman Antitrust Act Timeline

(July 2, 1890 – Present)

The Sherman Antitrust Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1890 and named after Senator John Sherman, was the first federal legislation aimed at limiting monopolies and cartels. It prohibits contracts, combinations, and conspiracies in restraint of trade and remains a cornerstone of American antitrust law enforced to this day. Less

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Origins & Passage

Sherman introduces antitrust bill

Oct 1, 1889 - Dec 31, 1889

In late 1889, Senator John Sherman of Ohio introduced an antitrust bill in Congress. According to a 2018 study in Public Choice, Sherman was motivated partly by a desire to enact revenge on his political rival, former Governor Russell Alger of Michigan, whom Sherman believed had cost him the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican national convention.

Image source: Sherman Antitrust Act

Sherman introduces antitrust bill

Sherman Antitrust Act passed by Congress

1890

The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed by Congress in 1890, becoming the first major federal statute to prohibit trusts and monopolistic business practices. At the time of adoption, there were only a few federal statutes imposing penalties for obstructing or misusing interstate transportation.

Act named after Senator John Sherman

1890

The new law was named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author. Sherman, a longtime Ohio senator and former Treasury Secretary, championed the legislation to combat the growing power of industrial trusts and combinations.

Image source: John Sherman

Act named after Senator John Sherman

Sherman sponsors the McKinley tariff

1890

Economist Thomas DiLorenzo notes that Senator Sherman sponsored the 1890 William McKinley tariff just three months after the Sherman Act. Critics argued this pro-tariff legislation protected large manufacturers, undermining the antitrust law's aims.

Image source: McKinley Tariff

Sherman sponsors the McKinley tariff

New York Times calls the law a 'humbug'

Oct 1, 1890

On October 1, 1890, The New York Times wrote: 'That so-called Anti-Trust law was passed to deceive the people and to clear the way for the enactment of this Pro-Trust law relating to the tariff.' The paper asserted that Sherman supported this 'humbug' of a law so party organs might praise him.

Clayton Antitrust Act passed

1914

The Clayton Antitrust Act, passed in 1914, proscribed certain additional activities that had been discovered to fall outside the scope of the Sherman Antitrust Act. It also created exceptions for certain union activities, strengthening protections for organized labor.

Image source: Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914

Clayton Antitrust Act passed

Robinson–Patman Act amends Clayton Act

1936

The Robinson–Patman Act of 1936 amended the Clayton Antitrust Act, targeting price discrimination by large chain stores and wholesalers against smaller competitors, and reinforcing the antitrust framework built upon the Sherman Act.

Image source: Robinson–Patman Act

Robinson–Patman Act amends Clayton Act

Early Enforcement

Federal government begins filing cases under the act

1890

The federal government began filing cases under the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890, immediately following its passage. This marked the start of federal enforcement against monopolies and restraints of trade under the new statute.

Labor & Exemptions

Workingmen's Amalgamated Council of New Orleans

1893

The Workingmen's Amalgamated Council of New Orleans case (1893) was the first to hold that the Sherman Antitrust Act applied to labor unions. This established an early and troubling precedent that organized labor could be targeted under antitrust laws intended for business monopolies.

Duplex Printing Press ruling limits union exemption

1921

Although the Clayton Act created exceptions for certain union activities in 1914, the Supreme Court ruled in Duplex Printing Press Co. v. Deering (1921) that the exemptions were narrow, leaving many union activities still vulnerable to antitrust enforcement.

Image source: Duplex Printing Press Co. v. Deering

Duplex Printing Press ruling limits union exemption

Norris–La Guardia Act exempts organized labor

1932

Congress included provisions in the Norris–La Guardia Act in 1932 to more explicitly exempt organized labor from antitrust enforcement, responding to earlier court rulings that had applied the Sherman Act against unions.

Image source: Norris–La Guardia Act

Norris–La Guardia Act exempts organized labor

Strikers occupy Apex Hosiery plant

1937

In 1937, the business Apex Hosiery suffered losses when strikers occupied their business and prevented shipments of orders, including shipments to other states. The resulting litigation tested whether labor actions constituted restraints of interstate commerce under the Sherman Act.

Supreme Court upholds labor exemptions

1941

The Supreme Court upheld the Norris–La Guardia Act's exemptions from antitrust enforcement in United States v. Hutcheson (1941), solidifying the protection of organized labor from Sherman Act liability when unions acted in their legitimate self-interest.

Fleischman vs Albany Medical Center

2010

In Fleischman vs Albany Medical Center (2010), nurses alleged Albany Medical Center suppressed their wages in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by sharing wage information with other area hospitals, illustrating the act's application to employer wage-fixing conduct.

Major Antitrust Cases

Northern Securities dissolved by Supreme Court

1904

Northern Securities Co. v. United States (1904) reached the Supreme Court, which ordered the railroad holding company dissolved. The landmark decision set many precedents for interpreting the Sherman Act and demonstrated the federal government's power to break up powerful trusts.

Image source: Northern Securities Co. v. United States

Northern Securities dissolved by Supreme Court

Henkel case reaches Supreme Court

1906

The Henkel case reached the Supreme Court in 1906, further shaping judicial interpretation of the Sherman Antitrust Act during the Progressive Era era of trust-busting.

Standard Oil broken up by Supreme Court

1911

In 1911, the Supreme Court broke up Standard Oil based on geography, dissolving the vast oil monopoly into separate regional companies. The decision contributed to the Panic of 1910–1911 and established the 'rule of reason' standard for evaluating antitrust violations.

American Tobacco Company split into four

1911

In 1911, the American Tobacco Company was split into four separate companies as a result of Sherman Act litigation. The dissolution ended the tobacco monopoly controlled by James B. Duke and reinforced the government's power to dismantle dominant trusts.

Image source: American Tobacco Company

American Tobacco Company split into four

General Electric judged in violation of the act

1911

In United States v. General Electric Co (1911), GE was judged to have violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, along with International General Electric, Philips, Sylvania, Tungsol, and Consolidated and Chicago Miniature, over anticompetitive practices involving light bulbs.

Image source: General Electric

General Electric judged in violation of the act

Company found abusing monopolistic rights

1915

In a 1915 ruling, a court held that the defendant company was abusing its monopolistic rights, and therefore violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, extending the act's application against monopolistic conduct.

Federal Baseball Club v. National League

1922

In Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore v. National League (1922), the Supreme Court ruled that Major League Baseball was not interstate commerce and was therefore not subject to the antitrust law, creating baseball's famous antitrust exemption.

National City Lines case

1953

United States v. National City Lines (1953) was related to the General Motors streetcar conspiracy, in which GM and other companies were accused of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and related products to local transit systems, replacing electric streetcars.

Image source: National City Lines

National City Lines case

Grinnell alarm services monopoly ruling

1966

In United States v. Grinnell Corp., 384 U.S. 563 (1966), the trial judge, Charles Wyzanski, defined the market as only composed of alarm companies offering accredited central station services, deeming local alarm providers and watchmen as not constituting substitute services.

Image source: United States antitrust law

Grinnell alarm services monopoly ruling

Midcal two-part state action test established

1980

In California Retail Liquor Dealers Ass'n v. Midcal Aluminum, 445 U.S. 97, 105 (1980), the Supreme Court established a two-part test for applying the state action doctrine: the challenged restraint must be clearly articulated and affirmatively expressed as state policy, and the policy must be actively supervised by the State itself.

AT&T breakup settled

1982

United States v. AT&T Co. was settled in 1982 and resulted in the breakup of the telecommunications giant. The settlement dismantled the Bell System monopoly, separating AT&T's long-distance service from its regional operating companies.

Microsoft antitrust case begins

1998

The federal government's antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. began in the late 1990s, alleging the company abused its monopoly power in personal computer operating systems through anticompetitive conduct related to its web browser.

Image source: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

Microsoft antitrust case begins

Microsoft case settles without breakup

2001

The Microsoft antitrust case was settled in 2001 without the breakup of the company. The settlement imposed behavioral remedies rather than structural separation, marking a notable contrast with earlier Sherman Act breakups like AT&T and Standard Oil.

DOJ files antitrust suit against Google

Oct 2020

The Department of Justice filed United States v. Google LLC in 2020, alleging the technology company illegally maintained monopolies in internet search and advertising in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Image source: United States v. Google LLC (2020)

DOJ files antitrust suit against Google

Google case presided over by Judge Amit P

Sep 2023

In United States v. Google LLC (ongoing as of 2025), Judge Amit P. Mehta presided over the landmark trial examining Google's search monopoly, one of the most significant Sherman Act cases of the modern era.

Image source: Amit Mehta

Google case presided over by Judge Amit P

Google case remains ongoing

2025

As of 2025, United States v. Google LLC remains ongoing, with potential remedies being considered that could reshape how the Sherman Antitrust Act is applied to major digital platforms and technology monopolies.

Key Facts

  1. The Sherman Antitrust Act was signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on July 2, 1890, making it the first major federal antitrust legislation in the United States.
  2. It was named after its principal author, Senator John Sherman of Ohio, brother of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman.
  3. The Act's two key provisions ban agreements 'in restraint of trade or commerce' (Section 1) and monopolization or attempts to monopolize interstate trade (Section 2).
  4. Early enforcement famously broke up major trusts, including Standard Oil in 1911 under the Supreme Court's ruling in Standard Oil Co. v. United States.
  5. The Act remains in force today and serves as the foundation for modern U.S. antitrust enforcement alongside later laws like the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914.

Source

This Sherman Antitrust Act timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

We work hard to keep these timelines accurate, but mistakes do get through. If you spot one, email us at [email protected] and we'll fix it for future visitors.

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