6monopolies

=Period 6=


 * The Problem(s)**

A few companies became very large and than began to make their produces cheaper. By them doing this they gained a lot of power and drove out smaller businesses. Also because the government did not get involved businesses began to form **monopolies** vertical and horizontal. People also began to form **trusts** that took power away from the smaller businesses and made starting a new business almost impossible. You would feel threatened by what seems to be limited entrepreneurial opportunities as the bulk of the wealth is in the hands of the few. By 1900 the wealthiest 2% of Americans controlled over one-third of the nation’s wealth. The **[|Standard Oil Company]**, created by John D. Rockefeller and Samuel Andrews is an example of a monopoly. In 1890, the **[|Sherman Antitrust Act]** was passed, making it illegal for big companies and trusts to limit competition. In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became president, and he was against trusts that limited competition. He became known as the **“trust buster”**. William Taft (president) wanted to control the trusts better. Woodrow Wilson, the next president, also wanted stronger **antitrust laws**. 1914 comes around; Congress passed the **Federal Trade Commission Act** and the **[|Clayton Antitrust Act]**. The Federal Trade Commission Act set up the Federal Trade Commission that made sure that antitrust laws were followed. The **Clayton Antitrust Act** supported the **Sherman Antitrust Act**. This Act stopped businesses from creating monopolies. It made price-fixing illegal. **Ida Tarbell** is best known for the two volume work, originally articles for //McClure's//, on John D. Rockefeller and his oil interests: //The History of the Standard Oil Company//, published 1904. The exposure resulted in federal action and eventually in the breakup of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey under the 1911 Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

The Solution(s)
A few solutions were...
 * Laws could be passed to limit the power of companies especially with control of an industry
 * The state attorney general could bring suits to break up trusts.
 * The federal government could use their power to break up big trusts
 * A state department of commerce could be formed that would investigate activities of corporations
 * The state could pass laws to control all businesses and corporations (The federal government would be encouraged because many corporations are nationwide)
 * Natural monopolies like public utilities like water, electricity, and gas would be controlled by the state and the cities
 * A public utility commission could be formed to set rates and prices for businesses

The Images
To your left: Caricature of J.P. Morgan as a bull blowing bubbles labeled "inflated values" for which people are reaching, from a 1901 issue of //Puck.// Morgan helped to create some of the largest trusts and monopolies during his lifetime, which allowed companies great control over prices and competition.



To your right: Showing that the rich men who held most of the money made it through monopolies

Above: 1899 showing Uncle Sam killed by the trusts Cartoon --"S.," North East, Pennsylvania, [|New York World], September 21, 1896

The Primary Sources
"There was ease such as we had never known; luxuries we had never heard of… Then suddenly [our] gay, prosperous town received a blow between the eyes." The 1872 [|South Improvement scheme], a hidden agreement between the railroads and refiners led by John D. Rockefeller, hit the Pennsylvania Oil Region like a tidal wave. It hit the Tarbells too, leaving behind painful memories that would be rekindled thirty years later. "Out of the alarm and bitterness and confusion, I gathered from my father’s talk a conviction to which I still hold -- that what had been undertaken was wrong." - Ida Tarbell

http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Images/Trusts.jpg Stockholders of several competing corporations turn in their stock to trustees in exchange for a trust certificate entitling them to a dividend. Trustees ran the companies as if they were one.

This political cartoon published The Verdict on July 10, 1899 by C. Gordon Moffat shows an America controlled by the trusts.

The Citations
Edwards, Rebecca. "Trusts & Monopolies." 2006. <[|http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/trusts.html>.]

Francois Micheloud. "Oligopolies, Trusts and Monopolies." 2006. <[|http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/SO/Trusts.htm>.]

"Monopolies and Trusts." __ABC-CLIO__. 2007. ABC-CLIO. .

”Monopolies and Trusts in the Progressive Era" __American History__. ABC-CLIO Schools Subscription Web Sites. February 21, 2007. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/tools/researchlists/StudentViewList.aspx?rlistid=2548

"People & Events: Ida Tarbell, 1857-1944." __PBS__. 1999. 22 Feb. 2007 .