Big Business and The Robber Barons Essay -- Corporate America Consumer

The decades after the Civil War apace changed the face of the United States. The rapid industrialization of the nation changed us from principally agrarian to the top industrial power in the world. Business tycoons thrived during this time, hammer great business empires with the use of trusts and pools. Farmers moved to the cities and into the factories, living off wage and changing the face of the workforce. This rapid industrialization created wide gaps in night club, and the government, which had in the first place taken a hands off approach to business, was forced to metre in.Many individuals took advantage of the rapid industrialization and high influx of tacky labor in the form of immigrants. Among these entrepreneurs were John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and George Pullman. Each do a name for themselves by forging their own corporate empire. Rockefeller was an industrialist and philanthropist who made his fortune by founding the modular Oil Company in 1870. Attempting to monopolize the industry and squeeze out the middle man, Rockefeller slowly gained about complete control of the rock oil industry. He formed the powerful Standard Oil Trust in 1882, which united all of his companies and secured 95% of oil production in the United States for himself. Rockefeller was an industrialist who stamped out all of his competition with his trust, eventually leading to Congress intervention.Andrew Carnegie found his fortune in steel. Arriving in the States in 1848, he quickly made his way up societys ladder and in 1870 founded the Carnegie Steel Company in Pittsburgh. Carnegie was fence to monopolistic practices, but succeeded in eliminating the middle man. He pioneered the tactic of steep integration... ...elped to widen the rift between rich and poor. Farmers, who were once self-employed, were promptly becoming factory workers. In 1860 half the nation was self-employed, but by 1900 two-thirds were dependent on bribe. Th is trend caused the rapid urbanization of America, which brought out rough issues. Wages were rising, so it was good to be working, but with dependent wages the workers were susceptible to economic downturns. The workplace also became much slight personable as people began to move to factory jobs. New machines would much displace workers, and individual workers had little power to fight for their rights against the industries. There was evermore a fear of unemployment, and reformers struggled to protect wages and have provisions for short unemployment. As more people moved to the cities and the corporations grew, social rifts became larger and larger.