“Henry Demarest Lloyd Exposes Standard Oil Monopoly”

By the end of the civil war, the United States economy had become increasingly capitalistic as more of the nation became connected via railroad. The economy would see a raise in monopolies and trusts. Aspiring capitalists such as Andrew Carnegie, Samuel Andrews, and John Rockefeller would rise to control whole industries. To this day their empires are notorious for changing the course of American history, inspiring anti-trusts legislation. Andrews and Rockefeller, for example, would form a partnership in the form of the Standard Oil Company, a monopoly originating in Cleveland, Ohio. The partners would go on to apply pressure to refineries nationwide leading to either the opposing company’s bankruptcy, closure, or acquisition into the Standard Oil company, itself. Standard oil did not stop there however, they would then enter into public and private contracts with railroad companies, including the Vanderbilt owned New York Central Railroad, in order to control the transportation of crude and refined oil from Pennsylvania to Cleveland. The average American consumer would know not of the control these monopolies would have over their goods. Americans would pay inflated prices for goods, such as kerosene. These monopolies afforded a handful of men sole power over million dollar industries.

“Teddy Roosevelt Advocates Regulation”

In his first address to Congress, Theodore Roosevelt would discuss trust regulation and the importance of avoiding the “evil. . .of over-capitalization.” President Roosevelt would go on to be a champion of trusts busting and regulation of monopoly and merger practices of industry.