The Interstate Commerce Commission

The Intestate Commerce Commission was created after the Federal Government enacted the Federal Commerce Act.The Act was meant to encourage Interstate commerce as a means of providing all citizens of the United States with the items necessary for their daily lives.

Without interstate commerce, each state would only have certain resources available, such as vegetables that could be grown in that state, with no access to vegetables that could only be grown in other states.

The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was created to uphold the Intestate Commerce Act as set forth by the Federal Government. One such rule in the Act required that railroad companies post the cost for specific journeys of a certain distance. In addition, the railroad companies could no longer charge a higher amount of money for shorter distances. The Intestate Commerce ccommission inspected the railroad stations and company offices to be sure that they were in compliance with the rules as set out by the Interstate Commerce Act.

Although the ICC could ensure that companies that transported goods across state lines were in compliance with the new law, it had no control over businesses that did not conduct business across state lines. That meant that companies which transported goods within a state’s boundaries were not governed by the Interstate Commerce Commission. In addition, many times when the ICC found a company had violated the law, they were unable to enforce the regulations.

NEXT: Understanding Interstate Commerce and its Federal Implications