The History of the Standard Oil Company—and the State

The states have an active role in shaping the antitrust enforcement landscape of today at a time of considerable change, and they have been there during previous inflection points too since the very beginning. This article tracks the states’ involvement during the formative era of antitrust enforcement, including, in particular, their efforts to investigate and prosecute the Standard Oil Company under the antitrust laws and beyond and how their efforts led to discovering or highlighting inform