Standard Oil was the leading supplier of oil to the United States in the 1880’s. The Company was run by John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller became one of the richest and most powerful men in America. Rockefeller tried to get Standard Oil to be the only supplier of oil in North America. Rockefeller believed that he could operate his company around the regulations set by the United States Government, and that he could get away with it. “President Roosevelt said confidently that no man, no matter how powerful was above the law (“The Trust Buster”). President Roosevelt shutdown Rockefeller and his corrupt business practices. Standard Oil created the the first trust in the United States. The company was very competitive and aimed to be the only supplier
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The company controlled ninety percent of the United States petroleum industry (Athean 826). Standard Oil took certain steps to further its monopolistic practices by becoming a trust. John Archbold and John D. Rockefeller established the Standard trust that granted the monopoly to expand into other areas. The trust enclosed forty other businesses, and fourteen were totally retained (Coffey 80). The establishment of the trust allowed Standard Oil to further expand their influence on the United States petroleum market. The Standard trust made the company boom even more than it had before. Standard’s trust allowed them to set prices and control most of the oil market. By 1882 Rockefeller had a group of nine trustees control all of the companies associated with Standard Oil, also the board was able to set prices and control how much product was being put out (Athean 871). The consolidation of the trust allowed Standard to control the balance of manufacturing. The board was in sole control of how the trust would operate. The holders of the company had entire authority to fix the expenses (“The Dismantling”). Standard had the ability to control all aspects of their manufacturing process. The trust made Standard more money since they could set their own prices. They could control how much they paid for the manufacturing process and ultimately make their product cheaper and earn the most …show more content…
congress passed many laws to take down trusts and to end monopolistic practices. The prime initiative that the U.S. government took to abolish monopolies was the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (“The Sherman Antitrust Act”). The Sherman Antitrust act was created specifically because of the illegal actions of Standard Oil. The United States government realized that they needed to regulate what Standard was doing. The ability of Congress to regulate interstate commerce was what the Sherman Antitrust Act was founded on (“The Sherman Antitrust Act”). Many other pieces of legislation were created after the Sherman Act to further strengthen trust busting. The Clayton Antitrust Act was created to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act because the Sherman Act was to broad. Most courts were allowed to self interpret what the Sherman Act actually meant. The Clayton Antitrust Act found it illegal to diminish the fees of products to beat out the other rivals, barter privately, and any other types of fee deductions (“Clayton Antitrust Act”). The Clayton Act was a big help to protect consumers. The Act assisted in the trust busting cases. Since courts weakened the Clayton Act, because they were bias, the act needed more legislation to forward its message (“Clayton Act”). Companies would exploit the weakness of the Clayton Act and become larger. After the creation of the Clayton Act, companies such as General Motors and the DU Pont Chemical Company expanded (Monopolies, History of”).
The company controlled ninety percent of the United States petroleum industry (Athean 826). Standard Oil took certain steps to further its monopolistic practices by becoming a trust. John Archbold and John D. Rockefeller established the Standard trust that granted the monopoly to expand into other areas. The trust enclosed forty other businesses, and fourteen were totally retained (Coffey 80). The establishment of the trust allowed Standard Oil to further expand their influence on the United States petroleum market. The Standard trust made the company boom even more than it had before. Standard’s trust allowed them to set prices and control most of the oil market. By 1882 Rockefeller had a group of nine trustees control all of the companies associated with Standard Oil, also the board was able to set prices and control how much product was being put out (Athean 871). The consolidation of the trust allowed Standard to control the balance of manufacturing. The board was in sole control of how the trust would operate. The holders of the company had entire authority to fix the expenses (“The Dismantling”). Standard had the ability to control all aspects of their manufacturing process. The trust made Standard more money since they could set their own prices. They could control how much they paid for the manufacturing process and ultimately make their product cheaper and earn the most …show more content…
congress passed many laws to take down trusts and to end monopolistic practices. The prime initiative that the U.S. government took to abolish monopolies was the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (“The Sherman Antitrust Act”). The Sherman Antitrust act was created specifically because of the illegal actions of Standard Oil. The United States government realized that they needed to regulate what Standard was doing. The ability of Congress to regulate interstate commerce was what the Sherman Antitrust Act was founded on (“The Sherman Antitrust Act”). Many other pieces of legislation were created after the Sherman Act to further strengthen trust busting. The Clayton Antitrust Act was created to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act because the Sherman Act was to broad. Most courts were allowed to self interpret what the Sherman Act actually meant. The Clayton Antitrust Act found it illegal to diminish the fees of products to beat out the other rivals, barter privately, and any other types of fee deductions (“Clayton Antitrust Act”). The Clayton Act was a big help to protect consumers. The Act assisted in the trust busting cases. Since courts weakened the Clayton Act, because they were bias, the act needed more legislation to forward its message (“Clayton Act”). Companies would exploit the weakness of the Clayton Act and become larger. After the creation of the Clayton Act, companies such as General Motors and the DU Pont Chemical Company expanded (Monopolies, History of”).