Compare And Contrast The Government And The Federal Government

The relationship between States and their localities in many cases is strained. State government gives their local governments life, they create the laws for them. However, throughout history, state governments have not treated their localities as they suppose to. That is why the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) stated on the state-local relation “Legislators should place a higher priority on state-local issues than has been done in the past. The time has come to change their attitude toward local governments.” They want the state governments to see localities as partners in the federal system.

There are a variety of differences and similarities between federal, state, and local governments. This includes, but is not limited to, the responsibilities, size, and staff of the administration. The machinery of government is intended to better the quality of citizen’s lives. Ultimately, federal, state, and local governments were established to work together in bettering programs and laws (Berkley & Rouse, 2009, p.32).

It required that all prices must be reasonable and just, rates must be publically posted, outlawed all secret rebates and deals, and price discrimination against smaller companies was now made illegal. While the act promised many changes to reduce the domination of the railroad monopolies, it was not enforced as pro-railroad commissioners were appointed by most of the later presidents. The next act passed by congress in 1890 called Sherman Antitrust Act. The objective of the act was to ban trusts and other contracts that restrained free trade. Much like the Interstate Commerce it was not enforced at all. In fact it was used to help the railroad monopolies even more by regulating labor unions. The very pro-business Supreme Court would rule that strikes violated the prohibition against “a conspiracy in restraint of trade.” In the act. This was the opposite intent of the act, and would not be properly enforced until the early

The Clayton Anti-Trust Act targeted business monopolies that could easily control the whole economy. Wilson being the arrogant president that he was, created a few minor laws that would not greatly improve the economy. It would be the next successor of the president that would be left with all these problems.

Federalism is the term that defines the relationship of Federal government and state. Federalism is the essential relationship between state and the federal government’s .The textbook, Politics in America gives a similar definition. “A constitutional arrangement whereby power is divided between national and subnational governments” (Dye 98) .The federal and state government’s divide the powers given to them by the Constitution, so that they can’t gain control of each other, and so one doesn’t become more superior than the other one. Certain documents state the relationship they have and what makes them distinct.

With the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890, the government set out to limit the power of large corporations who were monopolizing good and controlling the economy. Small businesses struggled to stay afloat in the midst of these economic superpowers. The aim of the Sherman Antitrust Act was to make monopolization illegal. This was significant because it made the American economy rich with competition and increased monetary circulation. This in turn made the economy more favorable for smaller businesses.

When Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated in 1913, he stated in his address that, “We shall deal with our economic system as it is and as it may be modified, not as it might be if we had a clean sheet of paper to write upon” (First Inaugural Address, online). He did just that when he passed the Clayton Antitrust Act in October 1914. The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed in 1890, but it was very vague in the way it described monopolies (Clayton Antitrust Act, online). Big business took advantage of the loopholes, which diminished competition (Clayton Antitrust Act, online). Although Roosevelt and Taft successfully busted about 150 trusts, big businesses continued to grow and our entire economic system remained in the hands of a few men (Taft Biography, online; T. Roosevelt – Section 8, online; Clayton Antitrust, online). Wilson requested Congress to modify the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Clayton Antitrust Act was born (Clayton Antitrust, online). It is “An Act To supplement existing laws against unlawful restraints and monopolies, and for other purposes” (HR 15657, online). The Sherman Act simply declared monopolies illegal, while the Clayton Act declared activities linked with monopolies to be illegal (Clayton Antitrust Act, online). Such activities include mergers and acquisitions that are intended “substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly” (HR 15657, online). The Federal Trade Commission Act, passed about a month before the Clayton Act, banned

In 1907, an economic/political reform cartoon was printed in the Washington Post. It illustrates Teddy Roosevelt holding a rifle while attacking bad trusts. TR was also known as the “trust-buster”. This cartoon demonstrates the bad trusts are a threat to society, and the government must be more powerful than big businesses. In 1914, the Clayton Antitrust Act was developed, “ That it should be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce , either directly or indirectly to discriminate in price..( Document E)” This document price discrimination is unlawful, and monopolies were illegal. It also infers that conflict of interest was an issue as well, and shouldn’t be allowed because it caused greater

Roosevelt protected the Grand Canyon, naming it the Grand Canyon National Monument. He said this about the canyon, " Leave it as it is. You cannot improve upon it, not a bit. What you can do is keep it for your children, your children 's children, for all who come after you." America can thank T.R. for the fact that all these national monuments, forests, and parks exist today.

The government also enacted the Hepburn Act, which made shipping internationally difficult on the railroad. Despite the fact that government grants led to incompetent railroads, the Interstate Commerce Commission and Hepburn Act were put into place, which made it so Hill “could not offer rate discounts on exports traveling on the Great Northern en route to the Orient” which was helping improve the economy with increased trade. Hill and other market entrepreneurs were not corrupt or unfair when choosing to not have subsides, but rather the political entrepreneurs were corrupt and insolvent. Also, Folsom argues that John D. Rockefeller was negatively impacted by government intervention. The Sherman Act was intended “to prevent monopolies and those companies ‘in restraint of trade’. Yet Standard Oil had no monopoly and certainly was not restraining trade” . Rockefeller’s goal was not to create a monopoly but in order to keep his business succeeding he needed directors in each state. By enacting the Sherman Act, Rockefeller’s company struggled, due to competition rising. These laws essentially stopped the growth of successful businesses, such as Hill and Rockefeller, who became so successful due to no government intervention.

Antitrust law in the United States is a collection of federal and state government laws regulating the conduct and organization of business corporations with the intent to promote fair competition in an open-market economy for the benefit of the public. Congress passed the first antitrust statute, the Sherman Antitrust Act, in 1890 in response to the public outrage toward big business. In 1914, Congress passed two additional antitrust laws: the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Clayton Act. (The Antitrust Laws. Web.)

Theodore Roosevelt’s visionary leadership led to the preservation of our natural resources. Theodore Roosevelt loved nature and believed our natural resources were one of America’s greatest treasures. In his lifetime he had seen the slow erosion of these resources to urban development and industrialization. He knew he had to act quickly to protect these resources, but

The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 was passed to prohibit trusts, this was the first law passed by U.S. Congress to enforce this. This act was named after Senator John Sherman. Before this act was put into place, many other states had enforced laws very similar to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. These laws were not perfect though, the large corporations had the majority of the economic power. Congress was not pleased with this, thus making the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. This act allowed Congress to regulate interstate commerce, outlawing monopolistic practices. If a person were to violate this act, he or she could be imprisoned for a year and fined five-thousand dollars. This law was successfully used to help Theodore Roosevelt during his campaign, “trust-busting”. Also, President Taft used the law to back himself up against the Standard Oil Trust and American Tobacco Company. The Standard Oil trust was when a board of nine trustees was set up to make all of the company decisions , allowing the company to run as a monopoly. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act allowed both presidents to dissolve the trusts that were creating problems. On the other hand, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act had many holes, it did not have exact wording, therefore allowing companies to still control the majority of the producing and still get away with it. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act had substantial success, but was put to rest and replaced with the Clayton Anti-Trust

Despite its good intentions, the Act didn't hit all its targets. The Act emerged as a somewhat tenuous plan to break up the "big business" monopolies. The weaknesses of the Act are described by Chief Justice Stone: "The prohibitions of the Sherman Act were not stated in terms of precision or of crystal clarity and the Act itself does not define them. In consequence of the vagueness of its language, perhaps not uncalculated, the courts have been left to give content to the statute, and in the performance of that function it is inappropriate that courts should interpret its words in the light of its legislative history and of the particular evils at which the legislation was aimed." Ultimately, "there [was] no question that nearly everyone wanted to

President Theodore Roosevelt formed national parks to preserve natural resources during his presidency as it is important for our natural resource heritage. For example, President Roosevelt separated more than 100 million acres of land for nationally conserved forest for his conservation strategy. As a president, Roosevelt used his authority to protect the lands and its inhabitants. By naming lands as nationally conserved forests made the place more safe and secure from destruction. This was the only way to protect the animals and wildlife in the forest, and Roosevelt achieved two things by separating 100 million acres of land. Also, President Theodore Roosevelt established five new national parks during his presidency and added more land to one national park. Nothing is valued by the new generation that is growing up other than their phones and gadgets. President Theodore Roosevelt recognized five