BIG BUSINESS EFFECT ON AMERICA
The Impact of Big Business - 1870 to 1900
Nathan Kest, 4th hour - DBQ
The surge of industrial growth in the Post-Civil War US (i.e. 1870-1900), is key to understanding the impact of big business in America. This period in American history revolved around the founders of big businesses, who tirelessly yearned for power. Big business between
1870 to 1900 had a negative impact on the American economy and political landscape, making
Americans unhappy with their lack of influence in society, and cynical of American politics, which is largely attributed to the concentrated control of America's economy and politics by ruthless entrepreneurs.
Big business between 1870 to 1900 created an unequal economic system where the majority of Americans had little opportunity to grow socioeconomically. People worked hard, and for long hours, but only a handful of people reaped financial reward. George Rice exemplifies this as he refers to himself as a victim of Rockefeller’s monopolistic power. He says,
“the Standard Oil Company was offering the same quality of oil at much lower prices than I could do-from one to three cents less than I could possibly sell it for.”1 Rockefeller's use of horizontal integration - that is, the merging of companies to create a more advanced product- to create a monopoly. As George Rice displays, big business created an unequal economic system that precluded hard-working people from earning an good salaries. Additionally, a handful of men grew wealthy on the backs of the average american because the need for skilled labor diminished, and unskilled labor was cheap and easily replaceable. As exemplified by David A.
Wells, “...the people who work in the modern factory are, as a rule, taught to do one thing—to perform one, and generally a simple operation; and when there is no more of that kind of work to
1
George Rice, “How I Was Ruined by Rockefeller,” New York World, October 16, 1898.
do, they are in a measure helpless.”2 Furthermore, as Wells
Nathan Kest, 4th hour - DBQ
The surge of industrial growth in the Post-Civil War US (i.e. 1870-1900), is key to understanding the impact of big business in America. This period in American history revolved around the founders of big businesses, who tirelessly yearned for power. Big business between
1870 to 1900 had a negative impact on the American economy and political landscape, making
Americans unhappy with their lack of influence in society, and cynical of American politics, which is largely attributed to the concentrated control of America's economy and politics by ruthless entrepreneurs.
Big business between 1870 to 1900 created an unequal economic system where the majority of Americans had little opportunity to grow socioeconomically. People worked hard, and for long hours, but only a handful of people reaped financial reward. George Rice exemplifies this as he refers to himself as a victim of Rockefeller’s monopolistic power. He says,
“the Standard Oil Company was offering the same quality of oil at much lower prices than I could do-from one to three cents less than I could possibly sell it for.”1 Rockefeller's use of horizontal integration - that is, the merging of companies to create a more advanced product- to create a monopoly. As George Rice displays, big business created an unequal economic system that precluded hard-working people from earning an good salaries. Additionally, a handful of men grew wealthy on the backs of the average american because the need for skilled labor diminished, and unskilled labor was cheap and easily replaceable. As exemplified by David A.
Wells, “...the people who work in the modern factory are, as a rule, taught to do one thing—to perform one, and generally a simple operation; and when there is no more of that kind of work to
1
George Rice, “How I Was Ruined by Rockefeller,” New York World, October 16, 1898.
do, they are in a measure helpless.”2 Furthermore, as Wells