Karen George
Period 5
1/27/2017
A business organization left to monitor its adherence to legal, ethical or safety standards on its own, runs the risk of unmonitored and unfettered damage to the economy. The Gilded Age in America was a time in history marked by ruthless competition and zero business ethics that saw only a few rise to the top. John D. Rockefeller of the Standard Oil Company became a so-called “Captain of the Industry” and a household name. He served as the poster child for Capitalism and in the nature of a true capitalist, he amassed tremendous wealth. However, along with his incredible success, Rockefeller also became known as the “Robber Baron” due to his unethical business practices of monopoly. Rockefeller wanted to
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At around the same time the Civil War began, the demand for his goods increased greatly, and he found himself amassing a small amount of wealth. And so, while the average worker earned about $8 a week, Rockefeller was on his way to be worth millions. Rockefeller introduced new techniques that completely reshaped the oil industry as well as how business was run. In 1859, Edwin Drake discovered oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, and Rockefeller was quick to foresee a future. He was persuaded that refining oil would bring immense wealth and so he began to sell off his other interests. Around 1863, Rockefeller and several partners entered the booming oil industry by investing in a Cleveland Refinery. During the 19th century, kerosene was in high demand and during the process of refining crude oil to kerosene, there were many byproducts that many saw as waste, but thrifty Rockefeller saw it as gold. Byproducts such as petroleum jelly was sold to medical supply companies, paraffin to candlemakers, and other wastes as paving materials for roads. He kept shipping a plethora of goods, therefore, railroad companies drooled over the prospect of getting his business. Due to the immense use of railroads, Rockefeller demanded discounted rates, or rebates from them. The high cost of transporting his oil to his Cleveland refineries cost 40 cents
In order for a person in the 20th century industrial age to become successful, like John D. Rockefeller, they must have a great eye for opportunity and be vigilant through the creation of their company. Rockefeller made his massive fortune mainly through his exploits in the oil industry. As a young boy rockefeller was already industrious and looking for ways to earn money. The real turning point in his career was at age 16 when he got a job as an office clerk in cleveland. He believed that this job is what set him on his course to becoming the wealthiest industrialist of the 20th century. Less than ten years after his first job in business Rockefeller and a few of his partners decided to invest in the rapidly growing oil industry. This was a big move for Rockefeller’s career,“A careful and studious businessman who refrained from taking unnecessary risks, Rockefeller sensed an opportunity in the oil business in the early 1860s”(John). This
Rockefeller negotiated rates from the railroads which transported his and other competitors oils. Due to this, it was hard for Rockefeller’s competitors to stay in business. Soon enough, in 1892, the Supreme Court of Ohio declared the company illegal and had the company end in 1899. The company was reorganized as a holding company, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. The United States Supreme Court declared that this company was an illegal monopoly and it was ordered to completely end in 1911.
John D. Rockefeller dominated the oil industry and was an entrepreneurial powerhouse. He was a hardworking man with good morals. Rockefeller was known for being an honest business man, and stressed on the importance of honesty in business. He also was a family man and a strong Christian. He believed that he should put his faith first, family second, and career third. This made him have an ethical business man. Rockefeller had a business partners throughout his career. Samuel Adams was his partner when they entered northwestern Pennsylvania and did what many thought could not be done and drilled into an area that no one thought they would succeed. They started the trend of the use of kerosene in America. They also reduced the amount of waste that occurred in the oil production.
The Gilded Age was a time of industrial development, new immigrants and labor unions. Industrial developments led to monopolies, which helped men like Vanderbilt and Rockefeller prosper, but exploited the poor, often immigrant, workers who were willing to work for cheap money. Though the robber barons were a minority of the population, they still held a majority of the country’s wealth. This unequal distribution of wealth and poor working environments led to the formation and rise of labor unions, such as the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor. Theses changes shaped the social, economic and political atmosphere during the Gilded Age and led to changes for future ages.
During Gilded Ages, the farmer criticized big businesses like banks and railroads for using their power to abuse the small businesses. The government increased taxes to the goods that farmers required to perform their job such as machinery and equipment. The Farmers protest, which leads to the Progressive Movement by introducing the idea that the big businesses needed to be restrained in during the Gilded Age. This movement passed legislation to guide big business, combat corruption, free the government from special interests, and secure the rights of consumers, workers, immigrants, and the
Describe the relationship between the rise of big businesses and the development of the Gilded Age in America. Cite both positives and negatives between the two movements. Give specific examples.
The Gilded age was named in a book by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that was The Gilded Age:A Tale of Today. It was published in 1873 and was about politics. I think Theodore Roosevelt set the whole country on an unsustainable path to ruin. He did not save the lower class, he put them in bad conditions to work in. The meat factories that the lower-class people worked in work not sanitary, they were not safe and very dangerous. The people also got very low pay for this job . I don’t think it is right to treat people differently based on if they are low, middle, or high class. I don’t think it was right for him to make richer people pay higher taxes. Because they are working harder than other people to make more money for their family
In the period following the civil war often referred to as the Gilded age, American Economy advanced both in size and function ( manufacturing rose from $3 billion to $9 billion) at an exceptional rate. New technologies, improved transportation and communication network , small businesses and sector’s of American economy like banking, manufacturing, steel, oil refining were now dominated by corporations, and new managerial techniques were some of the prominent changes in the business operations during the gilded age. This eventually led to the per capita income to rise to a new level and the United states became the largest industrial nation.
The Gilded Age took place in the late 19th century. The term was donned by one Mark Twain in The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. He said this because the United States appeared to be gold, or gilded, but was truly corrupt with problems. The era was a time of reform between the Civil War and World War I where many immigrants came. Also, the country had corruption in politics, as well as, corporate financial issues.
Settlers used oil as an illuminant for medicine and as grease for wagons and tools. Rock oil distilled from shale became avaialable as kerosene even before the industrial revolution began. While traveling in Austria, John Austin, A new york merchant, observed an effective, cheap oil lamp and made a model that upgraded kerosene lamps. Soon the u.s rock oil industy boomed as whale oil increased in price owing to the corporation, which was created to develop oil found floating on water near titusville, Pennsylvania, was the pennsylvania rock oil company of conneticut ( later the seneca oil company). Pipelines early became a major consideration in standards drive to gain buisness and profits. Samuel syckel had built a four-mile pipeline from pithole,
John D Rockefeller was one of the richest men in history with a net worth exceeding three hundred billion dollars. This massive wealth was because of his monopoly over the oil industry called Standard Oil. This company used the excess junk left from the good oil to make kerosene to fuel lamps, lights, cars, excreta. Rockefeller is what we call a “Robber Baron”, this means someone who is greedy and selfish for power, and wealth. In the 1900s these people were hated to the point of the government suing them for breaking Antitrust Acts and forcing Rockefeller to take down his monopoly over the oil industry.
Prior to today’s mechanisms, Native Americans and European settlers retrieved minor amounts of crude oil from holes in the ground. It was not until the mid-nineteenth century when Colonel Edwin Drake discovered the how to retrieve even larger quantities of oil. He realized that, by drilling a hole deep enough, greater quantities of oil could be obtained. Colonel Edwin Drake established the very first oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. After Colonel Edwin Drake’s discovery, the search for oil followed. Through this quest, many oil reserves were located all over North America, with the richest reserves found in Texas.
Wall Street was in a new financial frenzy; the old standards of business seems archaic and monotonous compared to what could now be possible. The stock market was the most important figure in the eyes of Americans; to many, a new renaissance of business had occurred. Whether a company had been a direct competitor or longtime ally, mergers seemed like the best choice for either party. Merging meant an almost instantaneous reaction to the market, with increasing market shares, and a larger take of revenue. Cooperation became the mantra of the business world and because of that, American businesses found themselves a more profitable expansion. However, just because cooperation was needed; didn’t mean it applied to everyone involved, the middleman
The oil industry can not be discussed without mentioning the name John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller changed the business of oil distribution. In the 19th century Rockefeller began his humble beginnings with a small investment, along with two other partners, in the oil refining business. Eventually Rockefeller upset at the direction of the company bought out his partners. He was now buying into refining and developing kerosene and other petroleum-based products. He later named this company The Standard Oil Company which by 1872 nearly owned all the oil refineries in Cleveland. In 1882, Rockefeller took all his holdings and merged them into the Standard Oil Trust. Through smart business
The origins of the petroleum industry were founded in northwestern Pennsylvania in 1859. A man by the name of Edwin L. Drake constructed the first oil well, and his success began an international search for petroleum. Yet, it wasn’t until 1901 when rapid modernization of the industry occurred. On a hill in southeastern Texas known as Spindletop Hill, oil was struck and “black