oogle Docs Oil, the fuel of America. Without it, the world couldn’t run. 1859, changed the course of history with its discovery, and then again, in 1879, when the company Standard Oil was founded. It changed the course of history, by becoming the dominant fuel of the 20th century and an integral part of America’s economy. It all began in West Philadelphia, where oil was born and raised. Edwin Drake, spending most of his days, drilling and mining, until he struck gold, black gold, triggering an oil rush. Throughout the region it spread, the origin of the multibillion industry. It's fitting, that on the same year, Charles Darwin published his masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, a book on natural selection, on how in this dog eat dog world, …show more content…
They just didn’t want part of the industry. They wanted all of it. Shortly after its incorporation, their vendetta to absorb nearby companies began. To cheapen the value of competition, they temporarily undercut their prices, and bought necessary components for oil barrels, so they could prevent rival’s distribution to their customers. If none of these tactics worked however, they would rely on hired thugs, who used threats and physical violence as persuasion. Wanting to avoid attention, in its attempt to gain a monopoly, Rockefeller and company created another establishment, under the name of ACME oil, managed under the pseudonym. John Archibald, who was in an alleged bitter rivalry with Standard Oil, and along with them, was buying companies, and other oil related operations, that would give them secret rebates. Their search of advantages didn’t stop there, as they continued, to the realm of bribery. Hiring spies, to give advanced warning on deals, from their respective place of work. Though there most brilliant act, was to negotiate with the railways. Underwhelming today, but in the 19th century they dominated the transportation market. Ten years after Standard Oil’s creation, 1873, they had acquired roughly 80% of the refining capacity in Cleveland. Six years later, with the stock market’s crashed, they absorbed most in Pennysilvania, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and New York. In 1878, Standard Oil had control over 90% of oil refined in the US, and soon most Oil marketing facilities in the