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Who's got the beef? This cartoon shows Theodore Roosevelt breaking up big trusts, including the beef trust
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The Expedition Act Was Passed
February 11, 1903
Critics of companies like J.P. Morgan's U.S. Steel Corporation said that allowing a company to control so many aspects of an industry hurt the general public. By 1902, there was such concern about huge "trusts" such as U.S. Steel that President Theodore Roosevelt ordered the Justice Department to use "antitrust" laws to prosecute not only the steel industry trust but also the meatpacking, oil, and railroad trusts. He said that these industries took advantage of the public by limiting competition. As a result, the Expedition Act was passed on February 11, 1903, making the antitrust suits a high priority in the nation's legal system. Roosevelt quickly gained a reputation for breaking up trusts. What nickname do you think he was given?
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