interstate commerce commission (icc) had the responsibility to regulate certain forms of interstate commerce from february 4, 1887 to january 1, 1996.
who has the responsibility to regulate certain forms of interstate commerce from february 4, 1887 to january 1, 1996?
interstate commerce commission (icc)
during the 1880s, public support for the regulation of railroads grew because of anger over anti-competitive railroad practices such as "discrimination," in which the railroads charged different rates to different clients. though often critical of the business practices of railroad magnates like jay gould, cleveland was generally reluctant to involve the federal government in regulatory matters. despite this reluctance, after the supreme court's holding in the 1886 case of "wabash, st. louis & pacific railway co. v. illinois" severely limited the power of states to regulate interstate commerce, cleveland assented to legislation providing for federal oversight of railroads. in 1887, he signed the interstate commerce act of 1887, which created the interstate commerce commission (icc), a five-member commission tasked with investigating railroad practices. the icc was charged with helping to ensure that the railroads charged fair rates, but the power to determine whether rates were fair was assigned to the courts. in addition to creating the icc, the interstate commerce act of 1887 required railroads to publicly post rates and made the practice of railroad pooling illegal. the act was the first federal law to regulate private industry in the united states, and the icc was the first independent agency of the federal government. the interstate commerce act had only a modest effect on railroad practices, as talented railroad lawyers and a conservative judiciary limited the impact of the various provisions of the law.
presidencies of grover cleveland
the opinion pointed out that prior decisions had identified three broad categories of activity that congress may regulate under its commerce power.









































bullet::::- first, congress may regulate the use of the channels of interstate commerce;









































bullet::::- second, congress is empowered to regulate and protect the instrumentalities of interstate commerce, or persons or things in interstate commerce, even though the threat may come only from intrastate activities;









































bullet::::- finally, congress's commerce authority includes the power to regulate those activities having a substantial relation to interstate commerce (i.e., those activities that substantially affect interstate commerce).
commerce clause