Assess the validity of the following statement: The American Government was successful in protecting the public from the elimination of competition during the gilded age.

The Civil War Era itself saw great steps taken in civil rights--mainly, that blacks were no longer seen as property but under the 14th Amendment were granted equality under the law. However, this progressive pace slackened somewhat in the years following the Reconstruction. As a few shrewd businessmen gained money and power in vast quantities, Congress quickly lost the ability to regulate commerce almost entirely. Though the American government tried to protect consumers with new …

…of great importance in later years. Although most of the immigrant workers who suffered in factories and the businessmen who made profits on their work would not live to see the end of the freewheeling capitalist era, the protests of labor unions and of everyday consumers who were impacted by such reprehensible business practices brought about laws which would eventually place the concerns of the consumer in front of the concerns of the business owner.