How did the railroads respond to state governments’ legislation during the gilded age?

Which reform measure could voters use to approve an amendment to their state constitution?

Why were few court cases won against monopolies and trusts during the Gilded Age?

Monopolies and trusts were supported by the federal courts.

The reforms of the early 1900s were called “progressive” because

they represented forward thinking about political changes.

Why were political machines difficult to break up?

They created a cycle of favors for votes.

Over time, the spoils system developed into a

Critics claimed political machines made government less fair because the machines

In the late 1800s, political machines remained in power mostly by trading money and favors for

Which of the following best describes how the recall, referendum, and initiative provisions give power to voters?

They give voters power over their laws and government officials.

In 1887, Congress passed which of the following pieces of legislation to regulate railroads?

the Interstate Commerce Act

How did the railroads respond to state governments’ legislation during the Gilded Age?

railroad companies challenged the new laws in courts

On February 4, 1887, both the Senate and House passed the Interstate Commerce Act, which applied the Constitution’s “Commerce Clause”—granting Congress the power “to Regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States”—to regulating railroad rates. Small businesses and farmers were protesting that the railroads charged them higher rates than larger corporations, and that the railroads were also setting higher rates for short hauls than for long-distance hauls. Although the railroads claimed economic justification for policies that favored big businesses, small shippers insisted that the railroads were gouging them.

It took years for Congress to respond to these protests, due to members’ reluctance to have the government interfere in any way with corporate policies. In 1874 legislation was introduced calling for a federal railroad commission. The bill passed the House, but not the Senate. When Congress failed to act, some states adopted their own railroad regulations. Those laws were struck down in 1886, when the Supreme Court ruled in Wabash v. Illinois that the state of Illinois could not restrict the rates that the Wabash Railroad was charging because its freight traffic moved between the states, and only the federal government could regulate interstate commerce. Continued public anger over unfair railroad rates prompted Illinois senator Shelby M. Cullom to hold the hearings that led to the enactment of the Interstate Commerce Act.

That law limited railroads to rates that were “reasonable and just,” forbade rebates to high-volume users, and made it illegal to charge higher rates for shorter hauls. To hear evidence and render decisions on individual cases, the act created the Interstate Commerce Commission. This was the first federal independent regulatory commission, and it served as a model for others that would follow, from the Federal Trade Commission to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Evolving technology eventually made the purpose of the ICC obsolete, and in 1995 Congress abolished the commission, transferring its remaining functions to the Surface Transportation Board. But while the ICC has come and gone, its creation marked a significant turning point in federal policy. Before 1887, Congress had applied the Commerce Clause only on a limited basis, usually to remove barriers that the states tried to impose on interstate trade. The Interstate Commerce Act showed that Congress could apply the Commerce Clause more expansively to national issues if they involved commerce across state lines. After 1887, the national economy grew much more integrated, making almost all commerce interstate and international. The nation rather than the Constitution had changed. That development turned the Commerce Clause into a powerful legislative tool for addressing national problems.

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journal article

The Troubled Subject of Railroad Regulation in the Gilded Age--A Reappraisal

The Journal of American History

Vol. 61, No. 2 (Sep., 1974)

, pp. 339-371 (33 pages)

Published By: Oxford University Press

https://doi.org/10.2307/1903953

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1903953

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Journal Information

In 1964 the Mississippi Valley Historical Review, published by the Organization of American Historians, became The Journal of American History. The change in title reflected not only an awareness of a growing national membership in the Association, but recognized a decided shift in contributor emphasis from regional to nationally-oriented history. The Journal of American History remains the leading scholarly publication and journal of record in the field of American history and is well known as the major resource for the study, investigation, and teaching of our country's heritage. Published quarterly in March, June, September and December, the Journal continues its distinguished career by publishing prize-winning and widely reprinted articles on American history. Each volume contains interpretive essays on all aspects of American history, plus reviews of books, films, movies, television programs, museum exhibits and resource guides, as well as microform, oral history, archive and manuscript collections, bibliographies of scholarship contained in recent scholarly periodicals and dissertations.

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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. OUP is the world's largest university press with the widest global presence. It currently publishes more than 6,000 new publications a year, has offices in around fifty countries, and employs more than 5,500 people worldwide. It has become familiar to millions through a diverse publishing program that includes scholarly works in all academic disciplines, bibles, music, school and college textbooks, business books, dictionaries and reference books, and academic journals.

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Which of the following did the Interstate Commerce Act ban in 1887?

That law limited railroads to rates that were “reasonable and just,” forbade rebates to high-volume users, and made it illegal to charge higher rates for shorter hauls. To hear evidence and render decisions on individual cases, the act created the Interstate Commerce Commission.

How did the case United States VEC Knight weaken the Sherman Antitrust Act quizlet?

How did the case United States v. E.C. Knight weaken the Sherman Antitrust Act? The Supreme Court ruled that the American Sugar Company was a legal monopoly since it existed only in one state.

Which of the following best describes how the recall referendum and initiative provisions?

Which of the following best describes how the recall, referendum, and initiative provisions give power to voters? They give voters power over their laws and government officials.