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During the Gilded Age in America, industries were growing and eliminating competition by forming trusts, which is a large grouping of business interests with significant market power. This quote by John Sherman explains the rationale of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which aimed to limit anti-competitive practices, such as those institutionalized in cartels or monopolistic corporations. 

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Before the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the Interstate Commerce Act on February 4, 1887, railroad monopolies were prominent in the industry. The Interstate Commerce Act Cartoon by W. A. Rogers depicts what the railroad industry was like before the act was passed and Section 21 of the legislation is quoted. The political cartoon demonstrates the privately-owned, completely unregulated railroad industry which is displayed in a wild sense. Taken together, the political cartoon and quote illustrate the necessity of Congress regulating the railroad industry to prevent monopolies.

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When Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887, not everyone was happy, especially organizations in the railroad industry. First railroad organizations, such as the Northern Securities Company, outright ignored the rulings of Congress as discussed in the video. As time progressed, the organizations found loopholes to avoid the act altogether demonstrated through the quote. Overall, this illustrates that while, the Interstate Commerce Act allowed Congress to intervene in railroad regulations, it received resistance from prominent railroad companies and organizations.

https://www.azquotes.com/author/21293-Ida_Tarbell#google_vignette

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The visual presented above is a GIF of a muckraker. A muckraker during this period was a journalist who aimed to expose the corrupt aspects of monopolizations and corporations. The quote above is from Ida Tarbell, a muckraker, who states that her volume titled “The History of the Standard Oil Company” aimed to expose John D. Rockefeller’s wrongdoings and unfair practices regarding his company's success.

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The monster in the political cartoon represents the monster created by trusts and monopolies. It shows the monster having a hold on the city and its people. During this time, many companies created utilized trusts in order to create monopolies in many different industries. These monopolies would often abuse the labor of their workers with long working hours and poor working conditions. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act, passed by President Woodrow Wilson, would enhance the Sherman Act and protect labor's access to collective bargaining, strategies of picketing, boycotting, and protesting.

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Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson were known as the progressive era presidents. They were known as progressive presidents because of the roles they took to reform American society. They all had something in common, the three thought that big business had taken over American society and wanted to end big business’ and protect the average Americans. Taft perpetuated a number of Roosevelt's improvement plans, but Roosevelt believed he wasn't doing as much as he could. Roosevelt intended to enter the race in 1912, but Taft was the chosen Republican candidate. Roosevelt, instead, ran as a representative of an alternate – the Progressive Party, also referred to as the Bull Moose Party. Roosevelt wasn’t successful with getting elected, he managed to draw some of Taft’s votes. Woodrow Wilson was a Democratic candidate that won the election. Despite having contrasting views with Taft and Roosevelt, Wilson maintained his support for a significant amount of progressive reforms.