Final answer:
Yes, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 prohibited practices that restricted trade, such as forming monopolies, and allowed the government to dissolve corporations engaged in such practices, with legal penalties for violations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Yes, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 made it illegal for companies or groups of companies working together to restrict commerce. This act was designed to combat anti-competitive practices, such as monopolies and other strategies that firms used to control a market and artificially raise prices. The law gave the government the authority to break up corporations that were acting in restraint of free trade. Legal consequences, including misdemeanors, criminal charges, and fines, could be imposed on violators. The Act was an early step in federal efforts to promote competition and regulate corporate behavior in the marketplace, and it has been used to break up several trusts, most famously in breaking up Standard Oil into 34 independent firms in 1911.