How Did John Rockefeller Influence

The Impact of John Davidson Rockefeller

John D. Rockefeller lived a long and prosperous life, becoming the richest man to ever live even today. Rockefeller started out by investing in an oil refinery located in cleveland, Ohio. He eventually founded his own oil company called Standard Oil. His business methods were debatable, however, with critics saying he is unethical in his practices. Standard Oil was eventually found guilty of breaking anti-trust laws. He was also the first person to create a monopoly which he succeeded in since he controlled 90% of the refineries and pipelines in the United States. John D. Rockefeller was very influential to history. His company was one of the major reasons why the U.S. government established more anti-trust

Rockefeller’s impact on the United States cause the U.S. government to create new laws and acts to prevent unfair business tactics and promote the idea of capitalism. During Rockefeller’s time in the oil industry he at one point controlled about 90% of U.S. pipelines and refineries. Statistics show that Rockefeller was very successful, however, he was not the most ethical businessman. He created the first monopoly by unethical practices such as colluding with railroads and using predatory pricing to rid himself of competition and take the idea of capitalism away from other aspiring oil businessmen. In Rockefeller’s mind, however, he was not being unfair he; was rather just using effective business techniques. After a woman named Ida Tarbell accused Rockefeller of such things by saying: “He has manipulated railroad rates to allow him into the market, but then raised them to keep his competitors out. His company also lowered his prices to run the competition out of business and raised them when his company had no competition in order to create a monopoly. I am by no means against your success, Mr Rockefeller; but I am against your greed and unfair methods”(“Interview”). Rockefeller then responded to these accusations by saying: “I see nothing wrong with what I’ve done, these are just highly effective tactics, not unfair tactics; she is just a misguided woman”(“Interview”). After the U.S. population and government realized that Rockefeller had created an unfair business