The Emergence of Big Business
Big Idea The expansion of industry in the North results in the growth of big business and the development of a new social philosophy.
Andrew Carnegie Born penniless in Scotland Preached hard work, wise investments, and innovative business practices Entered steel industry in By 1901 controlled 80% of the nation’s steel industry
Carnegie
Carnegie’s Tactics Vertical integration: When a company buys out all of the suppliers Example: coal and iron mines, ore freighters, and railroads Horizontal consolidation: When a company buys out its competition
Well if isn’t the monopoly man Monopoly: A firm that has managed to buy out all its competitors
Natural Selection Social Darwinism: Carnegie’s success represented survival of the fittest and could be used to explain why people are successful Proposed by Herbert Spencer in 1862
John D. Rockefeller Established the Standard Oil Company as a trust Trusts: participants turned their stock over to a group of trustees who ran the one large corporation Not legal but no laws existed to enforce them
Rockefeller
Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890: Made any attempt to interfere with the free market illegal Not enforced thoroughly
“What a funny little government.”