Preview

Should Standard Oil Be Temporary

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
76 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Should Standard Oil Be Temporary
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1911 that Standard Oil must be dismantled because it violated federal anti-trust laws; it was broken up into 34 separate entities that included companies that would become ExxonMobil, Chevron, and others. Some of them are still among companies with the largest revenue. The individual pieces of the company were worth more than the whole, and as shares of the individual companies doubled and tripled in value in their early

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Many of Rockefeller’s business dealings were illegal and immoral. In order to dominate oil production and assure the success of Standard Oil, he allegedly bribed politicians, managed transportation rebate contracts with railroads and undercut the competition. Standard Oil’s organization changed in 1882 when the Standard Oil Trust was established. The first of its kind in the U.S., the trust was devised so shareholders of various companies would hand over their shares to a board of trustees, receiving certificates of trust in place of the shares. The board of trustees then ruled over the companies as one corporation.…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The government should break up Standard Oil’s monopoly. In 1870, John D. Rockefeller started his Oil corporation in Ohio. They had about 10,000 shares. Him and, William Rockefeller, who was his brother, Henry Flagler, chemist Samuel Andrews, silent partner Stephen V. Harkness, and Oliver Burr Jennings all partnered up to make this company become one of the first and biggests around. Then about 37 stockholders decided to put their shares into trust with an organization called the trustees. This system became so successful that other enterprises used this technique also. Eventually John’s company was spreading so fast as he was getting richer, he saw no need for other oil companies, so he bought out almost all his rivals. With no other companies…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    APush

    • 589 Words
    • 2 Pages

    10. John D. Rockefeller- founded a company that would come to control most of the nation's oil refineries by eliminating its competition.…

    • 589 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Then Mr. Rockefeller with other partners got together to start to make a Standard Oil Trust, which had control of of a lot of companies that had Standard to control the domination of it, and the distribution it had, and selling and other things that the Oil Industry had in their policy of work. Standard’s domination of the oil industry came under evaluation from the public and the government. In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in an attack to limit the power of trusts,by taking out every contract, combination in the form of trust or any other way, or practice, in caution of trade or business. Standard lost a Sherman-related impeachment in Ohio in 1892, but it was later able to get into New Jersey as a holding company. John D. Rockefeller also had the good thing of giving money out for charity, which he gave mostly like half or more than a billion dollars to different things, like schools, churches, or scientific causes during the united state history.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John D. Rockefeller was one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the post-civil war time. Rockefeller’s achievements had the greatest impact for the United States beginning in 1870. John D. Rockefeller moved to Cleveland, Ohio as a young boy with his family. As he grew older, he decided to create a business in the oil industry. As stated by George Tindall, “Rockefeller recognized the potential profits in refining oil, and in 1870 he incorporated his various interests, naming the enterprise the Standard Oil Company of Ohio.” (America) Rockefeller became the largest refiner and wanted to push out the competitors of the oil industry to control the market. Rockefeller bought out the other Cleveland companies. If any company disputed, that company was…

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Today, we know that John D Rockefeller the founder of Standard Oil company used his power to eliminate his competitors and tried to create a monopoly in oil industry. He made secret rebates with railroad companies, so railroads gave his company a lower rate than his competitors. As a result, he could drive out them from the market. In order to destroy the competitors, he raised prices in the areas with no competition, and lower prices in the areas with competition. His strategies ruined competitors, and made them to sell out or go bankrupt. He was considered a ruthless or tyrant who had a lot of enemies, but it was not considered illegal or unethical to monopolize an industry. I think after his first priority which was making money, he was…

    • 233 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Robber Barons

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A second robber baron of that time was John D. Rockefeller. The robber baron of the oil industry. Rockefeller monopolized the oil industry with Standard Oil Company. When Edwin Drake discovered oil in 1859, Rockefeller saw the future. He introduced techniques that completely reshaped the oil industry. He used all of his methods to reduce the price of oil to his consumers. His profits soared and his competitors were crushed one by one. Rockefeller…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rockefeller, the oil baron; J.P. Morgan, the bankers' banker; captains of industry or robber barons? There has been much debate over the answer of that question. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that these men helped create large trusts and monopolies in their respective businesses. The "Millionaire's Club", or the Senate, is portrayed as being ruled by large trusts in a cartoon by Joseph Keppler, exemplifying the popular belief that the government was just as corrupt as the trusts, and looked out for their interests (Doc M). To control these trusts and others, the largely unsuccessful Sherman Anti-Trust Act was signed into law in 1890. The Act declared illegal every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of interstate and foreign trade and authorized the federal government to institute proceedings against trusts, yet federal authorities were prevented from using the act for some years due to Supreme Court rulings. Ohio Senator John Sherman, for whom the bill was named, proclaimed in his speech to the Senate that the bill does not interfere with lawful trade, only unlawful combinations (Doc N). "The power to regulate commerce is the power to prescribe the rule by which commerce shall be governed, and is a power independent of the power to suppress monopoly," professed Chief Justice M. W. Fuller, speaking for the Supreme Court in the case of United States v. E. C. Knight Company (Doc P). President Grover Cleveland agreed with the Act as well, stating in his Second Inaugural Message in 1893 that the existence of trusts that limit production and fix prices goes against the "fair field" and the government should alleviate people from their interference (Doc…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    History Dbq 2012

    • 1940 Words
    • 8 Pages

    While the initial stages of big business trace back to pre-Civil War America, it was not until the post-Civil War time period that large corporations effected on American society. From Rockefeller to Vanderbilt to Carnegie and all in between, these men and their businesses had unprecedented influence on American life. John Rockefeller created the Standard Oil Trust, with the intention of his business, Standard Oil Company, becoming the oil monopoly; short after, The Homestead Strike against Carnegie Steel aroused massive public support for unions. Likewise, big businesses’ growth and influences brought about a decline in the cost of living and the birth of a new political party. As a whole, the rise of big business in post-Civil War America caused a downward economic spiral while simultaneously increasing American hostility toward government and corporations, ultimately leading to the birth of new political and philosophical movements.…

    • 1940 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    With this borrowed money and the money he had made with his other business, he bought the largest oil refinery in Cleveland, Ohio and started Standard Oil. Rockefeller formed Standard Oil with his younger brother William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, and a group of other men. John was the company’s president and the largest shareholder. Over the next few years, Rockefeller made new partners and grew his business interest in the growing oil industry. In 1882 these companies combined to form the Standard Oil Trust. This trust would soon control about 90% of the nation’s refineries and pipelines in America. One of the reasons Standard Oil was so successful was that they bought rival companies and started companies for distributing and marketing their products. “In order to exploit economies of scale, Standard Oil did everything from building it’s own barrels to employing scientists to figure out a use for petroleum by products.” Because of Rockefeller’s enormous wealth and fame, he was often the target of people spreading rumours about how he ran his business and how he became successful. As the New York Times reported in 1937: “ He was accused of crushing out competition, getting rich on rebates from railroads, bribing men to spy on competing companies, making secret agreements, coercing rivals to join the Standard Oil Trust under threat of being forced out of business, building up enormous fortunes on the ruins of other men, and so…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Meanwhile, the refinery he initially invested in had become one of the largest in Cleveland. He made new partners and continued to expand over the years. In 1870, Rockefeller created the Standard Oil Company of Ohio. The Standard Oil Company bought out rival refiners and became a monopoly. The company did everything from employing scientists to crafting their own barrels. A lot of the journalists and politicians around during this time viewed Rockefeller as being full of corporate greed. He was criticized about the methods by which he made his…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “I sought for the reason and found that the railroads were in league with the Standard Oil…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Scores of large businesses had complete control entire industries. Teddy Roosevelt stopped these types of monopolies. In 1902, Roosevelt proposed a "Square Deal," which called for enforcement of existing anti-trust laws as well as strict control of big businesses.(Tindall et al., page400) The Northern Securities Company was dissolved in 1904 by the Supreme Court and Swift and Company was subject to Federal Regulation. In 1906, The Hepburn Act allowed the ICC the right to set maximum freight rates and extend their reach beyond railroads. (Tindall et al., page401) In 1906, the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act provided for regulations on meats, prepared foods, and medicines. (Tindall et al., page402) The Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) prohibited exclusive sales contracts, local price cutting to freeze out competitors, rebates, and interlocking directorates in corporations capitalized at $1 million or more in the same field of business, and inter-corporate stock holdings. (Tindall et al.,…

    • 235 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Progressive Era Dbq

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages

    However to act, citizens first must be informed. Muckrakers, a term coined by Roosevelt, were journalists who wrote to the middle class about corruption, greed and schemes in politics. Lloyd, a reporter, fully exposed the corruption of the monopoly, Standard Oil. With the public fully informed about these dominating companies, Roosevelt took action on a poorly written law, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, and began Trust-Busting. Roosevelt decided which trusts were good and bad, and the ones who caused harm to the public and stifled competition were broken up, while the good trusts were regulated as seen in document A. He badly wanted to bust…

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    -In the late 19th century many American conglomerates, such as the Standard Oil Company and…

    • 858 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays