Horizontal Integration

During the Industrial Age of American, social classes became more evident, political status’ were coveted and economic ventures remained at the forefront of the brain. Some political factors that lead to the explosion of industry include horizontal and vertical integration, corporate consolidation techniques, and bribery. Horizontal Integration is the combining of a number of firms engaged in the same enterprise into a single corporation. Vertical Integration is the taking over of all the different businesses in which a company relied for its primary function. These were both used by businessmen as power tools for forming successful organizations. It gave them power and influence over the economy. Corporate consolidation put the majority of the power in the hands of a few wealthy, dominant men. It integrated operations, cutting costs, creating a great industrial infrastructure, simulating new markets, creating jobs for a vast new pool of unskilled workers, and it opens the way to large-scale mass production to increase efficiency. Lasty, and perhaps most relevantly, big business would bribe members and government to vote in their favor in order to benefit their enterprises. From then on it was a competition of who could grab the most congressman.
Some economic factors that contributed to …show more content…
Born out of man's common lust for power, ideals such as Social Darwinism were used as a justification for their greed, as well as capitalist ventures. The most prominent men wanted to remain in power, in dominant positions with money. They used their money and positions to bribe congressman and people of the government to vote in their favor, ensuring the future of their organizations. This also had ties to the monopolies in which one person owned parts of a particular industry. It allowed them to regulate prices, wages and conditions as they