Essay On John Sherman's Monopolies

I believe that the government should break up Standard Oil’s Monopoly for the following reasons; First because John D. Rockefeller's acts are corrupt, secondly because it led business to bankruptcy and lastly because it could be considered as illegal business. For these reasons I believe that the government should break up Standard Oil’s Monopoly. John D. Rockefeller along with his brother created the Standard Oil Company, and became one of the world’s wealthiest men. In 1870, he established Standard Oil. It controlled 90% of the Country's refineries.

One of the greatest threats to the country was the establishment of monopolies in certain industries, and industrialists like John Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil Company, worked with the specific goal in mind to create a monopoly. For example, with Standard Oil Company, Rockefeller colluded with the railroad industry to have them raise the price of rail shipping for his competitors and in turn give the extra money the railroad companies made to Rockefeller and his company. Therefore, Rockefeller monopolized his industry by having railroads hike their prices for his competitors' shipping which thus increased the price of oil, and at the same time, Rockefeller was able to lower his price with the rail revenue he received, therefore putting all of his competitors out of business and establishing a monopoly. Once a monopoly is established, the company can set the price and has no need to innovate with the absence of competitors, thus harming the country as a whole. While corruption occurred between industrialists, there were also acts of corruption between industrialists and the government itself.

John D. Rockefeller was a great man in United States history. He pioneered the U.S. oil business and led a nation to great success. He made millions of dollars and built one of America’s greatest businesses. Even after his business was disbanded due to monopoly regulations, he still contributed millions of dollars to charities and organizations to continue his legacy. Rockefeller created America’s oil boom, set the bar for U.S. trade and exports, and left millions to charity after his death.

Ida did not hesitate to criticize Rockefeller for stooping to unethical business practices in quest for his numerous successes. Her writings were credited with the eventual breakup of Standard Oil, which came after the U.S Supreme Court rule in 1911, that the company was violating the Sherman Antitrust act. The Sherman Antitrust act allowed only Congress to regulate interstate commerce. Ida Tarbell and Ida B. Wells have much more in common than just their names. Both have exposed underlying issues in American society through pieces of writings, persistence, and course of actions they took.

As our country reached the late 1800’s, Americans found themselves face to face with era known as the ‘Gilded Age’. Companies were created and grew rapidly during this time period. Some of the most famous entrepreneurs were John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, who seemed to be the perfect models for the ‘rags to riches’ story. Many people debate which entrepreneur was a better role-model. Due to his low prices, the high demand for his products, and the way he sought to eliminate any possible competition, John D. Rockefeller is clearly the better role-model for today’s entrepreneurs.

This was viewed as being harmful to the free market. So, in order to combat these monopolies, Congress enacted “An Act to Protect Trade and Commerce against Unlawful Restraints and Monopolies” in 1890 more commonly known as the Sherman Act.

During America's Progressive Era, large monopolies controlled the industries in which they did business, increasing the economy and harming the people. Monopolies were a big thing during the progressive era. A monopoly is when one person or business owns a product that they can only sell and produce. For example, a big industry like oil used to be owned by the Rockefellers, and they were the only ones who could sell oil in America. According to the Newsela article "Entrepreneurs: John D. Rockefeller," "Standard Oil continued to spread."

He made his mark on America. John D. Rockefeller practically lit up the country with his company, Standard Oil. In eighteen-seventy Rockefeller started his company with a group of men, although he was the president considering he was the largest shareholder. His company founded the chemical that was the was very flammable, called Kerosene, that was put into lanterns or streets to help light your home and make the street more visible. Standard Oil began to buy out other companies and began to sell and distribute their products all over the globe, which made them a monopoly.

George Rice, a small businessman who was ousted by Rockefeller’s oil monopoly, stated, “I am but one of the many victims of Rockefeller’s colossal combination… the railroads were in league with the Standard Oil concern at every point, giving it discriminating rates and privileges… against myself…” (George Rice, “How I Was Ruined By Rockefeller”). The account by Rice underlined how his business failed to compete with the alliance of Rockefeller’s company and the railroads. Since the Standard Oil company had an absolute monopoly, it would work with the railroad companies to crush any competition, like that of Rice. With the rise of large industry and their monopolization, the economy of the US was largely controlled by the dominant companies.

Barons such as Andrew Carnegie, J.P Morgan, and John Rockefeller dominated the country through the enormous wealth that they amassed. The power that these individuals wielded was unfathomable. They even bought the presidency. It was through their combined might that William McKinley was elected. This pushed their power and wealth to even greater heights.

Justin Clement APUS DBQ Big businesses controlled the economy and politics throughout 1870-1900. They were in control of the prices for certain items because they destroyed their smaller competitors until there was no competition left. They had much sway over politics and took away the people’s say. As we can see from Document A, between 1870-1899, the price for food, fuel, lighting and living decreased with the emergence of big businesses.

John D. Rockefeller Sr: How did John D. Rockefeller impact the Industrial Revolution John Davison Rockefeller Sr. once stated “If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success” (John D. Rockefeller Quotes). John D. Rockefeller was the founder of Standard Oil in which then became one of the wealthiest men in the world. Rockefellers ongoing funding as a philanthropist and trust in oil is how the man's name still lives on to this day (The Rockefeller Archive Center). For thousands of years oil has been a main resource for human consumption, and remains the same.

Rockefeller: The Captain of Industry that has helped our country thrive “The best philanthropy” he wrote, is constantly in search of finalities- a search for a cause an attempt to cure evils at their source” - John D. Rockefeller John D. Rockefeller was the richest man of his time but, used his wealth to improve our country. Rockefeller entered the fledgling Oil industry in 1863, by investing in a factory in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1870 Rockefeller established the Standard Oil Company. With the establishment of the oil company Rockefeller controlled 90% of the oil business in America by 1880.

This fact, exposed by trustbusters and muckrakers such as Ida Tarbell, led to a monumental shift in public sentiment towards large trusts and ultimately led to the revolutionary Supreme Court case Standard Oil Company of New Jersey vs. United States, which created a new standard for big

Since the end of the Civil War, powerful men, referred to as captains of industry, formed trusts to control markets. They did this through their collusion, price-fixing, and anticompetitive activities, which took a toll on competition and innovation. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed to combat the harmful effect of trusts which the captains of industry controlled by creating an uneven playing field through their size and scope. The act passed with strong public support however due to the government’s inability to regulate these companies, even after passage of the act, stronger measures were introduced and passed to help protect and open markets to competition.