Why Did The Federal Government From 1865 To 1900 Violate The Principles Of Laissez Faire

To what extent and for what reasons did the policies of the federal government from 1865 to 1900 violate the principles of laissez faire, which advocated minimal government intervention in the economy? Laissez faire, or to let do, originated as a French economic system where the government is intended to have minimal intervention in the economy. Government intervention in the American economy had long been frowned upon, except for when it became deemed as necessary in order to control the powerful monopolies and regulate commerce between the states. Those who benefitted particularly well off the laissez faire system, men like Jay Gould, were very against government intervention as it would surely cut into profits. The government did not violate

As the Civil War drew to a close, congress was filled with “designing speculators” who liberally granted millions of acres of lands to large corporations, giving them a monopoly across a widespread area. The railroads that were built upon these land grants were soon to develop a problem, which was that the current laws operating to regulate the use of the railroads were subject to the wants of those who owned them. Since the current laws were inefficient at allowing fair usage of the rails, government intervention made sense in order to maintain economic fairness. The senate acknowledged how the railways “buil[t] up the strong at the expense of the weak” and fostered monopolies. There was not a question in the senators’ minds that the people wanted intervention to occur, so it would be their duty to rise their call, despite violating the principle of laissez faire. The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed by Congress with an almost entire majority in order to illegalize the combinations and trusts that the large corporations had been forming. Document M depicts the big bosses of the trusts domineering over the common men beneath them, which represents the reason why the Antitrust Act needed to be installed in the first place. Even the president, Grover Cleveland, believed that the powerful combinations that had formed where overwhelming the

During this time period the outstanding debt of the national government decreased as a whole, which showcases that despite how the government was centering more attention on nonmilitary activities and likely interfering with laissez faire, the economy of the country improved as a whole. Government interference through the interstate commerce act also proved to be beneficial to both the party it was interfering on behalf of and the railroad systems. The act was seen as necessary in order to “conserve and protect” without harming the interests of the enterprises. It was in this same point of view that John Sherman created the Sherman Antitrust Act, for the sake of aiming at unlawful combinations and not harming any innocent enterprises. However, congress did follow in accordance to laissez faire when they resolved to no longer grant subsidies to corporations or private