industrial revolution
... and the automobile, became the bases for new industries, while many of them revolutionized the conduct of business. The use of petroleum products in industry as well as for domestic heating and lighting became the cornerstone of the most powerful of the new industries of the period. The trolley car, led to the increased use of gas and electric power. The telephone led to the establishment of important public utilities that were natural monopolies and could operate only on the basis of franchises granted by state or municipal governments. The widespread employment of the corporate form of business organization offered new opportunities for large-scale financing of business enterprise and attracted new capital, much of it furnished by European investors. Laissez-faire capitalism ruled the day during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. In this atmosphere of unbridled moneymaking, numerous types of business organizations gave rise to Big Business. Around the end of the 17th century, there emerged a colorful and energetic group of entrepreneurs who appeared to symbolize a new class of leadership in the United States. Of this group the best known were John D. Rockefeller in oil, Andrew Carnegie in steel, and such railroad builders and promoters as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Henry Villard, and James J. Hill. A trend emerged toward the consolidation of competing firms into large units capable of dominating an entire industry. The movement toward consolidation received special attention in 1882 when Rockefeller and his associates organized the Standard Oil Trust. A trust was a new type of industrial organization, in which the voting rights of a controlling number of shares of competing firms were entrusted to a small group of trustees. These trustees were able to prevent competition among the companies they controlled. For a few years the trust was a popular vehicle for the creation of monopolies, and by 1890 there were trusts in whiskey, lead, cottonseed oil, and salt. The migration of immigrants to the country and farmers heading for opportunities in the cities allowed the Industrial Revolution to take root and flourish in America. Once settled, the immigrants and urban dwellers were taken advantage of by industry leaders because of the lack of employment. Urbanization was a direct result of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. Burgeoning factories were centralized in cities, which offered a central location for resources and workers to fuel their production. Immigrants and displaced rural workers flooded cities in the hopes of finding employment. Businesses were able to operate without government regulation. The business could organize in large population cities and pay low wages or have horrendous working conditions. As a result, government corruption bribes, monopolies, and trust came about. Politically, the developments of the Industrial Revolution led to the need for government intervention. The Republicans began as a party of human rights. They stayed in power during the long period of industrial growth, until 1884. As a result they came to be regarded as the party of business and wealth and the protector of industry through a protective (high) tariff. In 1892, farmers made a strong demand for control of trusts and higher prices through free silver and other changes in the money of the country. A new political party was formed, the Populists. Both the Populists and the Democrats nominated William J. Bryan for president in 1896. Bryan was defeated, however, by William McKinley. This began another long period (16 years) of Republican control of the White House. In 1904 Theodore Roosevelt was elected president. Roosevelt directed a progressive movement called the Square Deal. It aimed at social justice, the conservation of natural resources, and the regulation of business trusts. Other advances were made in tightening control over railroads and protecting the purity of food and drug act. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was created to prevent corporate trusts. It wasn’t until around 1901, when Roosevelt began to pursue some of the largest corporations, that the Sherman Antitrust Act was really enforced. It also became obvious during industrialization that the labor force was being treated unfairly. Around 1865 labor unions were beginning to form to protect the working force. The Knights of Labor formed in 1869 and...