American Fur Trading Company and John Jacob Astor
The American Fur Company and John Jacob Astor
I. Introduction "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely (Lord Acton). John Jacob Astor was a man that had absolute power during his era and used his power and wealth to benefit himself and not the "social fabric of society". Astor lived during the time of a post-revolutionary America which allowed him to build a monopolist empire with little restraint from government or society. Starting out in American as a young German immigrant, John Jacob Astor became involved in the fur trading business "without ever having set a trap" (Stokesbury) and eventually built a fur trading company that extended across the United States and into Canada and made him the richest man in America and the fourth richest American of all time (Wikipedia). Many of his business methods were unethical and illegal and took advantage of those without the means or ability to protect their interests. His wealth influenced government policies and politicians to favor his ambitions, gave him unfair advantage over his competition and fostered a destructive business environment. His "extraction mentality" was detrimental to society, especially to those people who where directly affected by his business practices.
II. Identification of Issues One the most important issues that the expansion of the American Fur Company illustrates is the lack of social responsibility a large corporation, more specifically Astor and his company, had towards its stakeholders and the effect this had on society. Astor's company created large amounts of wealth due to the efforts of its workers but little of those economic gains were passed on to them. John Jacob Astor's business practices had a lasting impact on business and society for many years to come. His business practices set a precedent for other big business trusts that came after him. John Jacob Astor followed a "dominance model" type of management where "corporations and a
I. Introduction "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely (Lord Acton). John Jacob Astor was a man that had absolute power during his era and used his power and wealth to benefit himself and not the "social fabric of society". Astor lived during the time of a post-revolutionary America which allowed him to build a monopolist empire with little restraint from government or society. Starting out in American as a young German immigrant, John Jacob Astor became involved in the fur trading business "without ever having set a trap" (Stokesbury) and eventually built a fur trading company that extended across the United States and into Canada and made him the richest man in America and the fourth richest American of all time (Wikipedia). Many of his business methods were unethical and illegal and took advantage of those without the means or ability to protect their interests. His wealth influenced government policies and politicians to favor his ambitions, gave him unfair advantage over his competition and fostered a destructive business environment. His "extraction mentality" was detrimental to society, especially to those people who where directly affected by his business practices.
II. Identification of Issues One the most important issues that the expansion of the American Fur Company illustrates is the lack of social responsibility a large corporation, more specifically Astor and his company, had towards its stakeholders and the effect this had on society. Astor's company created large amounts of wealth due to the efforts of its workers but little of those economic gains were passed on to them. John Jacob Astor's business practices had a lasting impact on business and society for many years to come. His business practices set a precedent for other big business trusts that came after him. John Jacob Astor followed a "dominance model" type of management where "corporations and a
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