Summary
During the decades following the Civil War, the economy of the United States experienced phenomenal growth. At every turn—in agriculture, shipping, merchandizing, manufacturing, and transportation—a new American system of production and distribution was born. As the economy grew, so did the personal wealth of a handful of intrepid investors, dealmakers, and Wall Street financiers. A new class of business leaders was born, dominating their sectors of the nation’s ever-expanding industrial base. To some, they were the mighty titans of industry. To others, they were greedy robber barons. As the American people came to question the robber barons’ self-serving business practices, observers called for reform. The call was answered in 1890 with the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act, a piece of legislation designed to bring down these controlling interests in the U.S. economy. The Robber Barons and the Sherman Antitrust Act: Reshaping American Business explores the foundations and repercussions of the law that reshaped American business.
Specifications
Full-color and black-and-white photographs. Biographical sidebars. Excerpts from primary source documents. Chronology. Timeline. Bibliography. Further reading. Footnotes. Index.
About the Author(s)
Tim McNeese is associate professor of history at York College in York, Nebraska. He earned an associate’s degree from York College, a B.A. in history and political science from Harding University, and an M.A. in history from Missouri State University. A prolific author of books for elementary, middle and high school, and college readers, McNeese has published more than 100 books and educational materials in the past 20 years, on everything from the founding of Jamestown to the lives of Spanish painters. His writing has earned him a citation in the library reference work Contemporary Authors. In 2006, McNeese appeared on the History Channel program Risk Takers/History Makers: John Wesley Powell and the Grand Canyon. He was a faculty member at the 2006 Tony Hillerman Mystery Writers Conference in Albuquerque, where he presented on the topic of American Indians of the Southwest.