Bust the Trusts

This worksheet engages students in Grades 6, 7, and 8 with critical thinking, economic reasoning, historical analysis, evidence-based evaluation, and close reading through a Progressive Era antitrust investigation. Acting as “antitrust investigators,” learners examine short case summaries to determine whether companies reduced fair competition, helping them understand monopolies, market fairness, and government regulation during a key period of U.S. history.

Skills Reinforced

• Monopolies & Antitrust (Grades 6-8) – Identify business practices that limit competition, such as price-fixing and secret deals
• Evidence-Based Reasoning – Support yes-or-no judgments with details from informational case summaries
• Historical Analysis – Connect Progressive Era reform efforts to real-world economic behavior
• Economic Understanding – Explore concepts of competition, fairness, and regulation in markets

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with social studies, history, and economics standards
• Engaging Role-Based Format – Encourages active analysis by placing students in the role of investigators
• Structured Reasoning Practice – Requires both decision-making and written justification
• Flexible Use – Effective for classwork, small groups, discussion prep, assessment, or homeschool lessons
• Supports Higher-Order Thinking – Moves beyond recall to evaluation and justification

This Bust the Trusts worksheet helps students build a deeper understanding of Progressive Era economic reform by analyzing real-world business behaviors and their impact on competition. Through evidence-based evaluation, critical reading, and historical reasoning, learners strengthen their ability to judge fairness and apply antitrust concepts. It’s a no-prep, thought-provoking resource for classrooms and homeschool settings focused on meaningful analysis of U.S. economic history.

This worksheet is part of our Progressive Era and Reform Movements Worksheets collection.