DBQ Essay Rise of Big Business

Simrohn Iftekhar Period 7 Mr. Amato 8A DBQ Essay Rise of Big Business During Industrialization many changes occurred which greatly affected American Society. The U.S. started to industrialize after Reconstruction. America became a leader of industry towards the end of the 19th century. Some examples of the changes that occurred were the growth of railroads and the rise of cities or monopolists. They were a big part in changing America’s society. The growth of railroads was a huge impact on American society. Railroads started growing creating more job opportunities. Many people moved from their rural farms to cities to get factory jobs. In the 1850s most Americans were farmers, but by 1900 about half of the U.S.’s population was living in cities. Railroads made it possible to ship products from factories and food from farms all over America. This created a national market. Technology such as Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone helped connect big business leaders all around the nation and helped many businesses. The prospect of jobs creating railroads attracted many immigrants. Railroad construction went from 5,000 miles of track in 1830-1840 to 75,000 in 1881-1890 (Document 1). Life in America was no longer just farmers, but now they had become a society of city life and factories as well. Monopolists and monopolized industries changed American society. Monopolists had so much control over their industry that they had little or no competition. Andrew Carnegie had a monopoly over the steel business for example. John D. Rockefeller was another monopolist. He formed the Standard Oil Company. Standard Oil monopolized oil and controlled virtually everything since a lot of things depend on oil (Document 3). Businesses could do whatever they wanted to if there was no one to compete against. When railroads raised prices for shipping, no one could avoid it if it was the only one in the state (Document 2). J.P. Morgan is a very well known monopolist. He