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Why did the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 create the Interstate Commerce Commission?

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lampoon of Interstate Commerce Commission — Administrative law Cartoon depicting a uniformed Interstate Commerce Commission officer shining a large searchlight on U.S. railroad executive Edward Henry Harriman, who is struggling to carry a large load of packages and toy trains, some labeled “merger.”

The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 established the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) primarily to regulate the railroad industry and curtail the abuse of monopoly powers.21

During the late 19th century, railroads were vital to the U.S. economy, yet many regions were served by a single company. This allowed railroads to adopt discriminatory and unfair policies, such as charging higher rates for short hauls than for longer ones to subsidize competition on major routes. Because state-level regulations proved ineffective, a coalition of Western farm organizations and Eastern business interests pressured the federal government to intervene.12

The ICC was created to supervise the enforcement of the act, which mandated that railroads publicize their rates and prohibited practices like pooling traffic and profits. As the first independent federal regulatory agency in the United States, the ICC served as a prototype for future administrative bodies, marking a significant shift in administrative law by delegating legislative, judicial, and administrative functions to an entity outside the traditional executive departments.234