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The Interstate Commerce Act
Primary Sources of America's Industrial Society in the 19th Century
In the years following the Civil War, railroads were privately owned and entirely unregulated. As the railroad industry grew and became more important to the growth of our young nation, the public demanded that these same railroads be regulated by the government. Since these railroads were the only fast transportation in the areas in which they ran, the companies held natural monopolies. In 1887, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act, making the railroads the first industry subject to federal regulation.
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