Violations of Laissez Faire by the US Federal Government Between 1865 and 1900

The principle of laissez faire is that the an unobtrusive government is the best government; that the government necessarily only 'maintain domestic tranquillity, defend the people from invasion, and protect them when travelling.' To leave economic workings of the country to the people and let the 'motives for production' be that of the people not the government. Our government took such a stance in its early decades, but as national debt rose, interstate commerce became indomitable, and the economy lost its strength, the need to patch the economy became very important. The government found that the needed patch was much more important than the laissez faire freedom previously given to monopolistic trusts, who were loosing favor with the majority of the lower class, who shared on 50% of the nation's wealth. …