John D. Rockefeller: Captain Of Industry

1. What did John D. Rockefeller believe was the key to stabilizing the oil industry? He believed that centralizing the administration, hard-working people that applied themselves and work together, and a monopoly – owning as much as they can – would stabilize the oil industry.

John D. Rockefeller helped the economy out by making his oil company expand. By expanding his company, Rockefeller gave many people jobs, and gave them kerosene which lit their homes at night.

Captains of industry were defined as the business leaders whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributed positively to the country or society in some way. Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were considered to be captains of industry because with their profits from either their steel company or standard oil company, they give back to the society instead of themselves. They believed in the idea that people give in to you, in which you must give out as well. They established many charitable foundations that allowed them to become well known philanthropist and made them distinguishable from the rubber barons.

"John began to keep a ledger, noting every expenditure, large and small. For him, numbers were sacred." After holding a job there for three months, Rockefeller's zealous work was rewarded with fifty dollars' pay, and a raise to twenty five dollars per month. This was a large amount of money during the 1850's, especially for a boy of seventeen. Interestingly, Rockefeller considered this raise unnecessary, "one has a hunch that he was jubilant but feared, out of religious scruples, his own greed." This early experience showed to John D. that hard work, punctuality, and ambition can lead to great profits. He would pursue this ambition throughout his life. His three years of working at Hewitt & Tuttle taught him how a business was run, and he was ready to start his own.

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.

Andrew Carnegie was a captain of the industrial growth of America during the early twentieth century, builder of the formidable American steel industry, and the wealthiest man in the world at the time. His success was not accidental. Most decisions in his life were well planned in order to achieve specific outcomes.

John D. Rockefeller Jr. played a significant role in helping to resolve the Ludlow strike but mainly to save the reputation of his family name and preserve the integrity of his successful company, Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I). The Rockefeller family was generous in donating to various orphanages, charities, and churches but were known for being brutal to their coal mine workers. For this and because of the dangerous conditions they were forced to work in, the miners went on strike and set up tent colonies throughout Southern Colorado. It was John Jr’s company which hired the strikebreakers who attacked the tent colonies by opening fire with machine guns. The mine operators were trying to rile the coal miners and create conflict so that they would retaliate. This way CF&I could involve Governor Elias Ammons to help put an end to the strike with the

Rockefeller was born on July 8th, 1839. He was an American Business man and the co-owner of the ‘Standard Oil Company.’ He created Standard Oil Company with his brother, William Rockefeller, and four other investors in 1870. As the oil industry grew, his company expanded at a fast past, resulting in the Standard Oil Company pushing out competition and taking over their markets. At Standard Oil’s peek, they owned 95% of all oil produced in the USA, making them the first known monopoly in the country. Rockefeller owned nearly the entire oil business in the United States, and he could set prices at will. Companies in other industries quickly imitated this trust model and used their broad market control to push prices higher. Rockefeller soon became the richest man in the U.S., with his wealth growing to more than a billion dollars. At the time of his death in 1937 he was considered the richest person in US history, having earned the equivalent of more than $336 billion according to inflation, accounting for more than 1.5% of the national economy’s

William Avery Rockefeller was a common pitchman “doctor” that sold cancer treatment tonics for $25 town to town and city to city. His wife, Eliza Davison Rockefeller, was a deeply religions and very disciplined woman (Poole). John D. Rockefeller was born into a humble existence but was taught many valuable life lessons from his parents. He learned the basics of business paperwork along with the sacredness of a business contract from his father and the importance of giving money to church and charities at every opportunity from his mother. This less than iconic background brought forth an extremely successful business man and eventual oil mogul, that set the world standard for philanthropy. John D. Rockefeller’s name lives on in American

John Davison Rockefeller was one of the captains of industry during the gilded age, and is most known for his numerous philanthropies in his later years; however, most people are unaware of his exploitation of America’s free capitalistic enterprise to amass a fortune, the likes of which this country had never seen before. Rockefeller’s company, Standard Oil, helped America explode as an industrial superpower on the world stage and, in the process, allowed Rockefeller to amass a billion dollar fortune for him and his family (Derbyshire 119). His career, from beginning to end, was surrounded by heated controversy and criticism (Nevins 3); however, by the time he died in 1927, the criticism and hatred faded away and the Rockefeller name was

Salutations my friends, I am John D. Rockefeller president and co-founder of Standard Oil. I understand you may have pre-acquired grudges against me. Some of you think of me as a ruthless businessman with no regard for the public. Others may think that I have never experienced the pains of being part of the lower class. Those comments are all wrong, and my humble beginning couples with a work ethic that all working class members should follow brought me to where I am today.

In the 1870’s through the 1900’s, the Standard Oil Company (SOC) has been the largest company in one of the most rich industries in the world. The Standard Oil Company held a monopoly over the entire industry, which meant that their wide variety of products must have been essential to many types of people and industries. The SOC’s ability to spread awareness of their company and their products is a main reason why they became so powerful. The Standard Oil Company would not be nearly as successful as it was if not for its widespread consumer base, the company became one of the largest in history. This success lead it’s CEO and founder, John D. Rockefeller, to become one of the most rich people to ever live; he also gave away an extremely large portion of his wealth and make the world a better place. Another way that the company 's massive amount of various customers allowed them to succeed is because oil has numerous uses and their products appealed to a wide variety of people. This fact is important because oil’s many different uses made it extremely appealing and marketable to numerous and various audiences, thus allowing the company that controlled the industry to skyrocket and create a monopoly. A monopoly had never really been done before in history and with the huge amount of wealth it created for certain individuals, the wealthy were able to change the world. Oil also led the world to many technological advancements and because of the current decrease in the world’s

Thomas Carlyle coined the term Captains of Industry in his 1843 book “Past and Present” to describe forerunners in business which had accumulated vast personal fortunes and contributed positively to the country through some act. Amidst the second industrial revolution in America, names such as Vanderbilt (Rail), Carnegie (Steel), Rockefeller (Oil), Morgan (Electricity/Finance), and of course Henry Ford (Automobile) are often lionized for their achievements in building America into a modern day power. On the contrary, many of these same figures are also considered Robber Barons; industrialists that routinely cheat investors and consumers, monopolizing activities and perverting government officials by any means for the exploitation of profit. All that is, but Henry Ford.

The research highlights how the oil industry was not real regulated and was essentially a free-for-all environment which Mr. Rockefeller took full advantage of lucrative business deals were done by the Rockefeller Corporation throughout the second Industrial Revolution to ensure that Mr. Rockefeller always had the upper hand in business negotiations. Deceitful tactics such a spying in bribery are often used by the Rockefeller Corporation to compete with other market competitors. Through research, it is established that Mr. Rockefeller owned several pipelines that he either bought or created from scratch; he would secretly pay himself back in rebates.

Over the course of this paper, we will take an in-depth look at information regarding John D Rockefeller 's creation of the Standard Oil Company and oil industry. First, we 'll review entrepreneurial and economic genius that leads to Rockefeller’s entry into the oil industry. Second, we 'll highlight 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. Rockefeller’s business sense creates a period of innovation and advancement of the none-existent oil industry that remains relevant today. This can be seen in his early years.