*In response to a video clip, “The Men Who Built America 2 of 8 Oil Strike” about John D. Rockefeller” answer accompanying worksheet … Rockefeller Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef1C7c8N-Ao ** Entrepreneur … ** Laissez-faire … ** Capitalism … ** Monopoly …

How were these men successful? Generalizations?

Important Concepts - Capitalism - An economic system in which private individuals own property, goods, and resources, and they control the “means of production”. Prices for goods and what is produced is determined by “supply & demand.”

Captains of Industry John D. Rockefeller How were these men successful? (1839 – 1937) “Job Day” – Sept. 26, 1855 1859 – America’s first oil well was drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania 1866 – “train crash” & later meeting w/ Vanderbilt 1870 – founds Standard Oil 1872 – “the Cleveland Massacre” – take-over to “control” 90% of oil refinery business 1882 – reorganized under the “Standard Oil Trust” John D. Rockefeller

Consolidation of Big Business Merger … “general combining of two or more companies …” Corporation … “protected by law as one person …”; can issue stock Stock … “a financial investment in a corporation …” Economies of scale … “cost advantages …”

Consolidation of Big Business Vertical integration … “the supply chain of that company is owned by that company …” Andrew Carnegie … Horizontal integration … “a company acquires like assets …” John D. Rockefeller … Cornelius Vanderbilt … Trust … “or a corporate trust; formed to get around monopoly laws …”

Economic Benefits Citizens increasingly became wage earners instead of farmers 1870-1910 GNP per capita more than doubled

Captains of Industry Cornelius Vanderbilt How were these men successful? (1794 – 1877) 1817 – ferry boat captain 1820’s – goes into business on his own 1850’s – supports the California Gold Rush 1860’s – shifts focus to railroad industry 1869 – “Horizontal Integration” … forms “New York Central” 1871 – builds New York’s Grand Central Terminal 1873 – extends control of railway routes connecting New York City to Chicago Cornelius Vanderbilt

Captains of Industry Andrew Carnegie How were these men successful? (1835 – 1919) 1847 – works as a “bobbin boy” then as a telegraph operator 1849 – “secretary” to Thomas Scott 1859 – division superintendent 1865 – “Vertical Integration” … begins telegraph company & iron bridge building company 1870 – begins first steel factory, near Pittsburgh (Homestead, PA) 1870’s – 1890’s – enters the steel business & becomes the dominant force in the industry 1875 – “How?” begins “Bessemer Process” in U.S. 1901 – sells Carnegie Steel to J.P. Morgan Andrew Carnegie