Theodore Roosevelt: The Growth Of Big Business

In the Gilded Age, big business controlled most aspects of everyday life. As the United States was amid a time of economic growth, big business was growing as well-- contributing to that economic growth, all the while, gaining control and dominance across the nation. With such an influencing power, big business cared less to think about anyone else other than themselves. Due to this corrupt possession of power big business possessed, legislation was passed in their favor with the government wrapped around their fingers. The economy, politics and the lives of most Americans were affected negatively when big business reigned supreme.

President Theodore Roosevelt, a leader of progressivism was highly in favor for a reform at a national level. He believed it was the governments duty to regulated businesses and improve the life's of the people. While the second industrial revolution brought major industrial achievement it also gave corporate bosses excessive amount of power, which they used to bend political parties to their favor and progressives such as president Wilson hoped to rectify this(Document 2). During this progressive movement many Americans focused on reform the country in ways that would creating a limitation on major business, such as Rockefeller Standard Oil, that used a unfair monopoly system to build their empire, which was damaging the economy. Roosevelt being the first to take signification action on trust-busting, such as passing the Hepburn Act which was enacted in 1906 set a precedent for the power of the federal government. The Hepburn Act set a maximum price for the freight rates on the railroads and it extended the reach of the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulation of pipelines, freight companies, sleeping-car companies, bridges and ferries. During this period the federal government passed an incredible amount of legislation that mainly regulated the problems in the society to provide a greater sense of regulation and protection for the people. Problems such as overbearing freight prices, vile food preparation and inconsistent economic status were issues that needed to be amended. Roosevelt also focused of the conservation of natural resources to help further developed the nation land and it's usefulness(Document 6). Anti-trust acts, Federal Reserve Acts were also established to break trusts to help improve market rates and improve the quality of life for the working class through more regulations on businesses by the federal government. Roosevelt trust-busting helped

After using the Sherman Act, Roosevelt started using new legislature to conquer the Trusts and make labor conditions more tolerable. The first department that he made to conquer Trusts was the Federal Department of Commerce and Labor. The Commerce Department could not break down the Trusts, but they could make working conditions better for all workers, and also set rates so the corporations could not over charge. The Commerce department set a maximum rate for the railroad companies in which they could charge companies. This way, the companies tnies could not survive and compete. Also, the

Roosevelt also went after the Northern Securities, a railroad holding company established by J.P. Morgan. Then, he went after Rockefeller's standard oil trust. By the time Roosevelt left office he had attacked twenty five different monopolies. He created the Department of Commerce and Labor to report on any illegal activities that businesses were participating in. This was truly progressive of him, in his attempt to help the little guy.

There was an obvious unequal distribution of wealth in America. The owners of big businesses held the majority of wealth in the country. Due to corporations being protected like people under the 14th amendment and the laissez faire system, businesses could grow and become monopolies in the industry. Labor leader George McNeill explains how a president of a big business rules over the nation. “He can fix the price of freights, and thus command the food and fuel-supplies of the nation.” (document b) A big business functions as a monopoly by crushing competition with lower prices that small companies can not compete with. George Rice says “ the Standard Oil Company was offering the same quality of oil at much lower prices than I could do - from one to three cents a gallon less than I could possibly sell it for.” (document h) Companies like Standard Oil Company could charge less because of their ability to own every part of the means of production and use trusts, holding companies, and pools to their

At the beginning of the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, many policies emerged to control the current situation the nation was living. One of them was the economy act, which acted to reduce the federal spending. National Industrial Recovery Act was another important policy of the time, which established some industry codes and working condition. Another policy was the Tennessee Valley Authority that helped to stop the deforestation and ensured an easier to pay electricity prizes for homes and industries. There were also many others like the Emergency Banking Act and the Agricultural Adjustment Act.

Business has always been a part of American history, but big business did not come into play until later in the life of our nation. To understand the history of big business in the US, one needs to understand the shift that occurred between the late eighteen hundreds and the early nineteen hundreds. In the late eighteen hundreds, business mostly comprised of farming. To own a business meant owning land that could be cultivated, harvested, and grow produce that could be sold for profit. The small business of farming dominated the culture, and there were very few big businesses in that period of time. However, in the short span of roughly fifty years, the cultural norm of business drastically changed. Large corporations emerged and took over the nation’s sales and profits. In that short amount of time, America’s citizens moved to the cities and went to college so they could participate in the big business culture. Big business became a livelihood for many Americans.

After the civil war, American economy evolved from family business to cooperate business. It was the start of the Industrial Revolution the way good and services made and sold were transformed through technological innovations and creative financing. There were several leading industries because of their role in industrial revolution. Railroad were important for transportation of good and people, coal and petroleum were important for the high demand to power the industries and steel were needed for the infrastructures. These industries were often controlled by a small group of businessmen. For instance, John D. Rockefeller was one of the mogul, who succeed in controlling the petroleum industry by using mostly the horizontal integration effort, which is the practice of taking control of the competitors. By gaining control of the oil companies, he could lower the cost, decide the price and maximize profits. Horizontal integration with the combination of vertical integration – which a business controls all aspects from raw materials to finished product – he was able to control petroleum industry, founding the

As the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the only President to have been elected 4 times. Despite an attack of poliomyelitis, which paralyzed his legs in 1921, he was a charming optimist whose confidence helped sustain the American people during the times of economic crisis and world war. He pulled the United States out of the Great Depression with his New Deal act in the 1930s, and he led the nation through the global struggle of World War II. Roosevelt’s era of presidency restored the troubled economy that the United States was under during Herbert Hoover’s presidency, while making plans to help the average American and restore jobs for the unemployed, Roosevelt brought great hope for a struggling United States.

In life not many things are guaranteed with the exception of living and dying. During the time between birth and death Americans are faced with many uncertainties. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said while signing the social security act that “The civilization of the past hundred years, with is startling industrial changes, has tended more and more to make life insecure” (Presidential Statement). The industrial revolution brought about a change in the work force, the majority who were self-employed had now become wage earners in industry, while chasing jobs they moved from rural areas to big cities. These changes also took away the individual’s ability to control their own financial destiny due to outside factors such as; business failure,

Americans have become used to politicians who will not go against their party’s line. Instead of having numerous free thinking elected officials who come together to ensure the welfare of society, we have two parties that control almost everything. This was not how Theodore Roosevelt led our country. He was a visionary and ethical leader. This paper explains why by describing Theodore Roosevelt’s use of visionary leadership to protect America’s natural resources by being an emotionally flexible leader and using his inspirational motivation. Theodore Roosevelt was an Ethical Leader because he put service before self by resigning from the position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy to fight in the Spanish American War and was a free thinker who went against his party to protect the welfare of society. Theodore Roosevelt has personal relevance in my development as a leader by modeling service before self and allowing me to see how I can improve my inspirational motivation. In order to understand Theodore Roosevelt as a leader, you should first know the impact of his visionary leadership.

America was once composed of two groups in of people; the haves and the have-nots. The haves are the people who make money and continue to create more. The have-nots are the people who were looking for their next paycheck; zero motivation to live beyond their current circumstances. But in a capitalist society, the world doesn’t only benefit the rich and greedy. The industrial revolution was a transition in human history where machinery became more prominent in everyday life. Especially in American society. It was a big contributor to the spread of greater amounts of wealth for all people. Technological advancements enabled everyone from the lower to middle class to attain wealth, from the Steam Engine, the electric Telegraph, the Cotton Gin,

As industrialization in the West increased, so did wealth. Yes the money might not have been equally distributed between the industrialists and workers. But it flowed money into people’s wallets and created a new class, the middle class that was for clerks, merchants, managers, or supervisors. And that raised the standard of living of all the workers. Whether you were poor or rich you benefited because items became cheaper because they were machine-made goods.

Today, the Big Business is one of the main features of the modern economic environment. Big Business refers mainly to corporations, huge economic entities operating for profit and distributing the ownership by the means of stocks. The Big Business started to grow in America after the Civil War, in the 1860s and already reached its peak of strengths by the “roaring” 1920s. Although Big Business faces much social and governmental control nowadays, its power is still enormous. Large business corporations provide most of economic output, employment places, financial investments, and production output. Politics is also very much influenced by the large corporations and is often forced into pursuing businesses’ strategic interests. Even average

Smith believed that if markets were free and competitive, then private individuals would work together for the greater good of the market. In the early days of the US, government leaders refrained from regulating businesses. As we entered the 20th century, the consolidation of the US industry into progressively powerful corporations was cause for government intervention to protect smaller businesses and consumers. In 1890, Congress created and enacted the Sherman Antitrust Act, a law created to return competition and free enterprise by breaking up monopolies. In 1906, it passed laws to ensure that food and drugs were properly identifiable and that meat was inspected before being sold. In 1913, the government developed a relatively new federal banking system, the Federal Reserve, to monitor the nation’s financial supply and to control banking activities (The Role of the Government,