Antitrust and Trade Regulation laws aim to promote free competition in the marketplace. Agreements or cooperative efforts by two or more entities that affects or restrains competitors is illegal under these laws. The Sherman Act makes illegal any contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce and makes monopolies and attempts, combinations, or conspiracies to monopolize illegal. The Clayton Act regulate price discrimination, tying and exclusive dealing contracts, stock acquisition and interlocking directorates.
Charlotte Hall is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,214 at the 2000 census. The Maryland Veterans Home for disabled veterans, including a U.S. Veterans Affairs clinic, is located on the site of the former Charlotte Hall Military Academy. The Academy site was declared the Charlotte Hall Historic District, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Since 1940, a sizable Amish farming community has existed nearby along with a farmers market and large flea market complex on busy Maryland Route 5, which is also the site of numerous strip-mall businesses continuing into the adjacent community of Mechanicsville.