The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed by Congress, with the support of President Benjamin Harrison, in 1890. Such act declared illegal any business combination that sought to restrain trade , in an attempt to curb the growth of monopolies.
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was used when the workers of the American Railway Union were on a strike, known as the Pullman Strike, which occurred in 1894 when George Pullman, the president of the Pullman Palace Car Company, decided to reduce the salaries of his workers. As a result of the application of the Trust Act on such conflict the president of the American Railway Union, Eugene Debs, was arrested.