What did Theodore Roosevelt do to deal with monopolies in business?

Theodore Roosevelt, during his presidency, took significant steps to address the issue of monopolies and trusts in business. He was known for his efforts to regulate and control the power of large corporations through various actions:

1. Trust-busting: Roosevelt was a proponent of breaking up monopolistic trusts. He used the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 to bring lawsuits against several major corporations that he deemed to have too much control over their respective industries.
2. Regulation and Oversight: Roosevelt pushed for the regulation of monopolistic practices rather than outright dissolution in some cases. He believed in regulating rather than destroying big businesses when they served the public interest. This led to the establishment of regulatory bodies like the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and the Department of Commerce and Labor, which aimed to oversee and regulate business practices.
3. Northern Securities Case: One of the significant actions during his presidency was the prosecution of the Northern Securities Company, a railroad trust. This case, which went to the Supreme Court resulted in the dissolution of the trust setting a precedent for future antitrust actions.
4. The Hepburn Act: Signed into law in 1906, this act empowered the Interstate Commerce Commission to set railroad rates, which was a step toward regulating the railroads' monopolistic tendencies.

Overall, Roosevelt's approach to dealing with monopolies and trusts was a mix of trust-busting and regulation, seeking to curb the excessive power and unfair practices of large corporations while allowing those that operated in the public interest to continue but under more oversight.