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The History of the Standard Oil Company, by Ida M. Tarbell, vol. 2, 1905
Ida M. Tarbell’s series for McClure’s was reissued in two volumes titled The History of the Standard Oil Company. Tarbell used testimony from congressional hearings, interviews with Standard Oil executives, and other sources to expose the company’s predatory practices. In 1906 the federal government sued Standard Oil under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The case reached the Supreme Court in 1910.
U.S. Senate Library
Exhibit Theme
Ida M. Tarbell: Exposing Standard Oil
The rise of corporate trusts and monopolies in the Progressive Era spurred Congress to legislate regulations on business practices. The first such law, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, met its greatest test in a case against the Standard Oil Company. Journalist Ida M. Tarbell brought the company’s shady dealings to light, and the federal government sued Standard Oil. The Supreme Court ordered Standard Oil’s breakup in 1911, but only after more narrowly defining illegal monopoly. Congress strengthened antitrust laws with the Federal Trade Commission Act and Clayton Antitrust Act.
We, the people of the United States, and nobody else, must cure whatever is wrong in the industrial situation, typified by this narrative of the growth of the Standard Oil Company.
Ida M. Tarbell, The History of the Standard Oil Company, 1904