Before the federal government instituted a series of antitrust acts and laws, it was not illegal for companies to use any means to eliminate competition in America end of the 19th century. Production technology had now advanced to the point that supply would exceed demand for the product. As competition in a given market increased, more and more companies joined together in trusts or holding companies to bring the dominant market position under their control (Cengage 2). When President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in in 1901, he led America into action with strong government solutions (“Online” 1). Roosevelt effectively regulated offending business giants with the formation of the Department of Commerce and Labor, the Bureau of Corporations, and antitrust lawsuits. Trusts were essentially agreements between businesses in a given market that were anticompetitive with each other. The problematic methods and techniques they used included rigorously lowering prices, “purchasing competitors, forcing customers to sign long-term contracts, [and] forcing customers to purchase unwanted products in order to receive other goods (“Sherman” 1). For example, financier JP Morgan seized on the business opportunity presented by the Depression of 1893, which occurred for the same reason as the Depression of 1873: more goods had been produced than could be sold due to excessive expansion. Morgan acquired many railroads that had filed for bankruptcy (“Domination” 2), as well as purchased Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel in 1901 (Keesee 356). To differentiate monopolies from trusts, it should be said that individual companies were able to form monopolies when they were in control of “almost all of one type of product or service... [This] affects consumption...... half the paper . .....or Christian Schools® 3rd ed., Greenville, SC: Bob Jones UP, 2001. 356. Print. Ohio History Central. “Let's break trust.” OHC, July 1, 2005. Web October 3, 2011.-Online Highways, LLC. “Business and Industry, The Theodore Roosevelt Administration.” The destruction of trust: a response to corporate concentration. Nd, n. page Network. September 25, 2011. "Processor Editorial Article - Antitrust Laws: Not Just for the Big Guys." Editorial.Processor November 19, 2004: 27+. Processor.com. Network. November 29, 2011 .-”Sherman Antitrust Act, Il.” Washington Post. The Washington Post Company, 1998. Web. September 17, 2011.-“Theodore Roosevelt's Square Deal.” The Progressive Era. SparkNotes and Web. 03 October 2011.United States. Department of Commerce and Labor. Department of Commerce and Labor Reports (House Document). Books.google.com. USGPO 1903. Web-digitized 17 July 2008. Web. 03 October 2011. Print.