John D Rockefeller And The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age sparked an era of greateconomic changes for the United States and its citizens, from strikes by workers to panics and trusts by the United States wealthiest innovators of the time. The Gilded age will always be remembered for its great innovations that has shaped America to what it is in the present.

One of the Gilded Age’s most prominent well-known philanthropist’s, John D. Rockefeller, had a lasting effect in the United States. He was America’s first ever billionaire. Rockefeller entered the oil business by first investing on an oil refinery in Cleveland, Ohio in 1863. He established his own oil company named “Standard Oil”, which controlled nearly 90 percent of America’s oil refineries by the 1880’s. At first, Rockefeller borrowed money from some of his buddy’s to buy out some stocks and take control of his first refinery in Ohio. He then formed the “Standard Oil Company” along with his brother William Rockefeller and other groups of men, John D. Rockefeller was the largest shareholder of the company. Standard oil was a monopoly in the oil industry for buying other refineries who were competition to Standard oil in order to distribute and market there oil around the globe. Standard oil even went as far as making their own oil barrels and employed scientists to develop other uses for kerosene and petroleum products. John D. Rockefeller was viewed as a target of “muckraking” by journalists, who viewed him as a monopoly giant setting up a monopolistic company in America which helped build his vast oil empire. Critics accused Rockefeller of engaging unethical practices such as competitive pricing when it came to products and negotiating with railroads to eliminate his competitors. The United States Supreme Court wou...

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...federal court stating that the strike by the Pullman workers was illegal. Workers still however, didn’t return to their workplace the following day, so President Garfield sent the federal troops to break the strike and help the trains move forward. Angry rioters were being violent with the incoming soldiers escorting the trains and as a result, many rioters and workers were killed by the federal troops who opened fire at them. Most workers returned to their old jobs, still earning the same wages as before.

The Gilded Age was a wonderful time period in history due to innovations by some of the United States most well-known philanthropists who shaped America to what it is today with their monopolistic companies at the time. Even though workers would be treated unfairly due to the competition other companies provided each other, the Gilded Age is an era to remember.