Final answer:
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 aimed to promote market competition and changed the relationship between the federal government and private businesses by giving the government the power to regulate and dissolve monopolies and trusts.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 is a significant piece of legislation that aimed to curb the concentration of power in large corporations and trusts that affected market competition. Specifically, it targeted trusts that interfered with the free operation of the markets and interstate commerce. The two correct statements describing the Sherman Antitrust Act are:
- It attempted to encourage market competition through regulations.
- It changed the relationship between the federal government and private businesses.
This act was crucial as it gave the federal government unprecedented power to regulate and break up corporations that were deemed to be acting in restraint of free trade by forming monopolies. Despite the act's initial vague language in terms of what constituted a combination in restraint of trade, it was an early step towards federal regulation of the marketplace, which was expanded upon in later years with additional laws and the establishment of federal agencies like the Federal Trade Commission.