John D. Rockefeller And The Industrial Revolution

As the age of Reconstruction ended, the Gilded Age of big businesses began in the United States and with it came new jobs and goods for Americans. When new corporations became more successful, it made an immense impact on the economy, the political system and the lives of citizens. Economically, the cost of food and living went down significantly as well as a surplus of jobs. Political leaders were corrupted by big business as their decisions and laws were influenced by the wealthy class’ bribes and stealing from the common man. Though mass production allowed goods to be made quicker and in greater quantity, the workers’ horrible working conditions and remarkably long hours caused the creation of unions and strikes. Despite the great effect big business had on the economy in the Gilded Age through the decline in the cost of food and fuel, the daily lives of average working-class citizens were negatively impacted by long hours, horrid working conditions leading to unions and a corrupted political system.

While Standard Oil did come to basically control the price of oil in the United States, it never engaged in 'predatory', or deep and unnecessary price cutting to push out it's competitors. John McGee states this about how Standard Oil accomplished this by other means: “It is correct that Standard discriminated in price, but it did so to maximize profits given the elasticities of demand of markets in which it sold. It did not use price discrimination to change those elasticities. Anyone who has relied upon price discrimination to explain Standard's dominance would do well to start looking for something else. The place to start is merger” (McGee 168). Carnegie on the other hand preferred to buy out all competitors that were in the same area of production as he was, and consolidate. Through consolidating most steel mills in the Pittsburgh/Pennsylvania area, he was able to control that particular step of the production process in the steel business, therefore maximizing his profits like Rockefeller, but in a different way. Carnegie preferred stable prices and stable business, and Harold Hotelling manages to place Carnegie's view on why he consolidated his mills as such: “This is the fact that of all the purchasers of a commodity, some buy from one seller, some from another, in spite of moderate differences of price. If the purveyor of an

In the late 1800’s, George Eastman, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie were all Captains of Industry because they all donated large sums of money to support different charities. John D. Rockefeller was into donating money to institutes for medical research. Rockefeller eventually donated $50 million dollars to the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research so it could help try to cure diseases, give people health checks and develop medicines(reading). Andrew Carnegie gave money to help build libraries and public education. Carnegie gave away $350 million dollars to build 2,500+ libraries(reading). George Eastman was always a kind-hearted man. From when he got his first paying job, to being one of the greatest people in his industry,

Reformer Ida B. Tarbell was a muckracker who wrote for McClure’s Magazine in the 1920s. As a muckracker, Tarbell would bring to light issues affected the American people. More specifically, in her “History of the Standard Oil Company”, Tarbell documented how Rockefeller ruthlessly squeezed out competitors with unfair business practices. With Tarbell’s writings, the middle class was able to respond with great moral exhortation. In addition Tarbell exposed the corruption of these companies such as Rockefeller’s oil company to a large audience of citizens and placed politicians under great duress to serve the interests of the people. For example, President Theodore Roosevelt fought to end the trusts and was known as a “trust buster” (Doc. A). Roosevelt was adamant about getting rid of the bad trusts and keeping the “good trusts”. In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in an attempt to break up massive monopolies dominating the American economy. The Sherman Antitrust Act was unsuccessful because it did not include a method of enforcement; however that was not the last attempt to bring about an end to bad trusts. In 1914, President Wilson gained passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act. This act was more strict than that of the Sherman Antitrust Act barring companies from creating a monopoly on products (Doc. E). President Wilson was ultimately successful in the passage of

Over the course of this paper information regarding John D Rockefeller 's creation of the Standard Oil company will be showcased. First, information regarding Rockefeller’s entry into the oil industry will be presented. Second, how Standard Oil became the largest oil company in the United States. Next, the innovative products and procedures that Standard Oil creates to keep the company relevant throughout the era . Lastly, how the dissolution of Standard Oil paves the way for a diverse oil market with companies specializing in different productions. Now, John D Rockefeller may have been a cutthroat businessman; however, Rockefeller’s vision for Standard Oil creates a period of innovation and advancement of the none existent oil industry that remains relevant today.

There are many factors that stimulated the industrial and agricultural growth in the late nineteenth century. Advancements in manufacturing and production technology enabled the widespread adoption of preexisting technological systems such as telegraph and railroad networks, gas and water supply, and sewage systems, which had earlier been concentrated to a few select cities. The enormous expansion of rail and telegraph lines after 1870 allowed unprecedented movement of people and ideas, which culminated in a new wave of globalization. In the same period, new systems were introduced, most significantly electrical power and telephones.

John D. Rockefeller, Captain of Industry or Robber Baron? John D. Rockefeller was a captain of industry. He realised that oil has the potential to change the world. He also produced an oil product that was cheap.

and the wealth it brought, when any other competitor tried even to step foot into the oiling industry, Rockefeller dropped his prices until the rookie industry was forced out. After he ! regained monopoly, he then jacked up the prices. Sure, the people were

Question 1: When Zinn refers to industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller as “robber barons” he means that those industrialists are taking all the wealth and privileges for themselves and not sharing them with the rest of the country. When Schweikart and Allen refer to the industrialists as “titans of industry” they mean that they revolutionized the way of their industry and made their products cheaper and better and easier to produce.

John D. Rockefeller was the managing force behind the making and growth of the Standard Oil Corporation, which developed to control the oil business and developed one of the primary big trusts in the United States, therefore creating much controversy and disapproval concerning its corporate practices and procedure of organization. Rockefeller is frequently despised as one of the nineteenth-century thief industrialists who greedily followed money and control by drawing up innocent opponents, extorting consumers, and starved workers. Folks who debate this will point to Rockefeller’s tricky business strategies and coerced “persuading” of slighter businesses to either sign on or be bought out. Rockefeller also plotted with the railroad corporations

Rockefeller’s unfair business practices. Her most important work which inspired many other journalists to write about trusts, titled The History of the Standard Oil Company published the first installment by McClure’s in 1902. It was a seminal example of muckraking which was so immediately successful that it was eventually extended to 19-part work from the original three-series plan. In the journal, Tarbell exposed Standard’s questionable practices, including those events that had so greatly impacted her family and others in their area decades earlier. The articles also helped to define a growing trend to have the liberty to investigate and expose in journals of the day, a technique that in 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt would label muckraking. Tarbell’s exhaustive study was successful, it not only helped the development of a new style of investigative journalism sometimes referred to as muckraking but also led to breakup of the Standard in the 1911, which was determined to be in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The publication of The History of the Standard Oil Company was so important ecause it made her be regarded as one of the most influential muckrakers of the Gilded Age, helping to usher in that age of political, economic and industrial reform known as the Progressive

Prior to the industrial revolution in America, businesses were small, family owned, and generally did not cause many problems. At the time, the largest enterprises only employed around 50 people (“Corporations”). With only small businesses up to the 1870’s, the government was able to follow laissez-faire policies. However, the Industrial Revolution grew in Europe and quickly made its way to America. Businesses rapidly began to grow and monopolies formed. The need for railroads and transportation supported the growth of industries ("Corporations”). The railroads made it easy to transport manufactured goods across the nation (“Industrial”). Robber barons, John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan, took advantage of the need for new industries and quickly began to ruin the country; their monopolies controlled everything. The formation of monopolies and trusts eliminated competition and drove prices of basic items up (Benson). Consumers began to have only one expensive option for the

With reference to the levels and spheres of corporate power discussed in the chapter, Rockefeller and the powers of Standard Oil had impacts to the society economically, technologically, politically, and culturally. When Rockefeller was young, he found an investment that would change him for the rest of his life. The Cleveland petroleum refinery in which he invested $4,000 in 1863, was still in its beginning stages. However, Rockefeller was devoted to the oil business, soon becoming one the most successful men in history. Economic power is the ability of the corporation to influence events, activities, and people by the virtue of control over resources, particularly property. The power of Standard Oil changed society by leading the economy to economic growth. The Standard Oil business had built facilities and employed workers. In turn, this had also increased the economy to a fuel related industry. As Rockefeller had expanded the business of his company, Standard Oil also improved and perfected their oil refined technology. In terms of a deeper level of the power, the Standard Oil business sparked the development in other industries, such as the automobile industry. The textbook states, “However, just as electric lightbulbs were replacing oil lamps, the

Rockefeller was obsessed with controlling the oil market and used many of undesirable tactics to flush his competitors out of the market. Rockefeller was also a master of the rebate game. He was one of the most dominant controllers of the railroads. He was so good at the rebate that at some times he skillfully commanded the railroad to pay rebates to his standard oil company on the traffic of other competitors. He was able to do this because his oil traffic was so high that he could make or break a section of a railroad a railroad company by simply not running his oil on their lines. Another one of Rockefellers earlier mentioned but not explained tactics was his horizontally integrated monopoly. Rockefeller used this horizontal monopoly to set prices and force his competitors to merge with him. (All with Doc. J) Document J shows that Rockefeller had his tentacles, or his influence and power around every piece of the oil industry. That, also, includes the politicians and their support.

By establishing these set shipping rates with the railroad companies, it not only made it impossible for his competitors to stay in business, but it also allowed Rockefeller to establish a strong relationship with a key method of transportation for shipping products (Biography). By establishing a strong relationship with the railroad companies, Rockefeller was able to use his successful business practice to “control over 90 percent of the nation’s oil-refining industry by 1880” (The New Tycoons). As time continued on and his business became more successful, he also applied another clever business strategy known as vertical integration. This process consisted of a company purchasing and controlling each and every step of one’s industry production process. Rockefeller’s company used this process very efficiently as they “became known to manipulate crude oil prices to drive refineries to bankruptcy, allowing him to buy them cheaply” (Epstein). By controlling each production step, he was able to minimize costs by removing any companies from the middle that were previously completing steps on the way to the finish product. Rockefeller was also known to manipulate prices of crude oil in order to drive his competing refineries into bankruptcy which allowed him to buy them cheaply (Epstein). However, his economic beliefs and ideas were not the only strategies which John Rockefeller used to elevate his business and personal profile to a national level and