Interstate commerce is any business that is conducted across state borders. Interstate commerce can include business conducted between individuals or entities in two states or more than two states.

The Interstate Commerce Act is a Federally enacted law which had the original intent of preventing a monopoly from controlling commerce between states. In 1887, the Federal Interstate Commerce Act was enacted to prevent the railroad industry from having control over interstate commerce, as that was one of the only means of transferring goods between states.

The Interstate Commerce Act was meant to prevent the railroad company from charging higher rates for short hauls than for long hauls and required that they give those rates up front. Prior to the passage of the Act, railroad companies were able to charge whatever price they wanted, as there was very little competition for the transportation of goods between the states.

The Interstate Commerce Act led to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission. The Commission was in charge of monitoring the railroad companies to be sure that they followed the new law and did not charge customers more than they were supposed to or more than they had posted for a particular distance.  

The Interstate Commerce Act was created to prevent monopolies from taking advantage of businesses that conducted business across state lines. In fact, the Interstate Commerce Commission had no control over regulating businesses which conduced business within one state.

The Intestate Commerce Commission was created after the Federal Government enacted the Federal Commerce Act.The Act was meant to encourage Interstate commerce as a means of providing all citizens of the United States with the items necessary for their daily lives.

Without interstate commerce, each state would only have certain resources available, such as vegetables that could be grown in that state, with no access to vegetables that could only be grown in other states.

The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was created to uphold the Intestate Commerce Act as set forth by the Federal Government. One such rule in the Act required that railroad companies post the cost for specific journeys of a certain distance. In addition, the railroad companies could no longer charge a higher amount of money for shorter distances. The Intestate Commerce ccommission inspected the railroad stations and company offices to be sure that they were in compliance with the rules as set out by the Interstate Commerce Act.

Although the ICC could ensure that companies that transported goods across state lines were in compliance with the new law, it had no control over businesses that did not conduct business across state lines. That meant that companies which transported goods within a state’s boundaries were not governed by the Interstate Commerce Commission. In addition, many times when the ICC found a company had violated the law, they were unable to enforce the regulations.