What are Trusts?

Depiction of Rockefeller and Morgan's trusts and how they are connected.

What are trusts? Trusts in the business world are when a trustee is appointed by a group of beneficiaries. The trustee may be an entity or a person. Now, the Internal Revenue Service does an outstanding job of explaining trusts in laymen’s terms, “a trust is a relationship in which one person holds title to property, subject to an obligation to keep or use the property for the benefit of another.” ²

 For businessmen before 1890, the implementation of trusts became revolutionary as companies could take over smaller firms and control them through trusts. As the corporations begin to cross state lines with their trusts the United States Constitution begins to take the front. The Constitution under Article 1 Section 8 explains how the Federal Government has the “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.” ³ Still, corporations did not adhere to certain state-imposed regulations.

When Senator Sherman lays out the groundwork for the Anti-trust Act states jump on the idea so the commerce in their state is not obliterated by large corporations and their trusts. Some Senators tried to alter the Act but eventually “The bill was then passed- yeas 32, nays, (Mr. Blodgett) [The bill as passed is exactly as it came from the committee]."⁴ Congress is delighted with the passing of the Act, but that feeling diminishes quickly.

^Footnotes

^{2 “Definition of a Trust.” Internal Revenue Service. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/definition-of-a-trust.}

^{3 National Archives. “The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription.” National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript?_ga=2.49811110.1604126544.1681316291-1064336171.1680968933.} 

^{4 The Tribune Company, ed. “FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS: The Anti--Trust Bill Passed by the United States Senate WITH BUT ONE DISSENTING VOTE No Aliens in the Navy-The House Passes a Bill to Prevent Their Enlistmemt--The Bill to Define Options and Futures Favorably Reported.” The Sun (1837-). April 9, 1980.}