Corporate Monopolies & Trusts

What IS a corporation? Some of you are saying this…

People buy parts of a company and are not personally responsible if something goes wrong. As of July 22, 2014 there were 8,239,848,789 Microsoft shares Bill Gates owns 330 million Ballmer owns 630 million Whoever has the most stocks, get the most votes on decisions and the most money paid out in dividends.

In the eyes of the law, the “corporation” is a person – so no one person is responsible A group gets together to make decisions. It’s called a shareholders meeting. Ever wonder what’s really so important about his place? It’s where these are bought and sold…

1)Does this cartoonist think corporations are good or bad? 2)Who are the 3 people at his heel? 3)What is the relationship between government and corporation in this cartoon?

How many corporations can you list in 30 seconds? Here’s 50

Monopoly: Mono = one (company) poly = many (parts) So… One company/person with total control of an industry Corporate Trust: a large business – usually used their size to stop competition – used unethical/abusive methods Philanthropy: donation of money or property (or both) Labor Union – group of workers that cooperate for better conditions Social Darwinism – “survival of the fittest” this was used to justify the difference between the rich and the poor Industrialist – person who is in charge of an “industrial” company

How many major corporation founders can you name? Sam Walton Steve Jobs Phil Knight Richard & James Cabela Henry Ford

We’re going to look at 4 major corporation founders of the Gilded Age Keep in mind “Laissez Faire” – the government stayed out of business and not everybody played nice…

Gilded Age Powerful Men Andrew Carnegie John D. RockefellerCornelius Vanderbilt J.P. Morgan

Built a steel mill in Pittsburgh With profits, he bought more mills, mines, and ships Controlling every aspect of the business, he could sell cheaper than his competition

Paid low wages Expected 12 hour shifts Crushed attempts to start labor unions

Massive growth required steel for building skyscrapers, bridges, etc…

Ruthless in business, he was a philanthropist in his later years Gave away $350 million to build libraries and benefit universities The long-term effect of what he started

Wrote an essay “Gospel of Wealth” Wealthy have a responsibility to philanthropy Poverty in capitalist society can be eliminated through charity of the rich Help people help themselves (Definition of “gospel” – good news)

Started by selling fruits and vegetable Used his profits to build an oil refinery 1859 Edwin Drake creates first successful oil drilling well in Pennsylvania Access to underground oil & industrialization created a need for oil beyond just lamps Show: John D Rockefeller – Fueling America

1870 – Standard Oil Company 1879 – company controls 90% of oil refining in US 1882 – company becomes a “trust” with Rockefeller controlling largest proportion of shares

Standard Oil becomes a monopoly He forces railroads to give him secret rates and charge his competitors more

Recognize any of these? In 1892 the government forced Standard Oil to break-up

Another example of ruthless businessman that gave away million Helped found University of Chicago and The Rockefeller Foundation

Started a ferry business at 16 Used profits to build fleet of steamships Sold his ships and bought railroad stock Owned several rail lines Didn’t share the belief that he had a duty to share his wealth with the public

As business booms, they need a way to transport goods…

Son of a banker Started his own bank Became so powerful, even the government came to him Heavily involved in creating railroad and steel monopolies by making it difficult for competitors Yep, the little dude was intended to look like Morgan

Were these entrepreneurs good or bad? If you think they were good, you would refer to them as: Captains of Industry – they rocked it, advanced industry, helped the economy… If you think they were bad, you would refer to them as: Robber Barons – they made their money off the backs of the people, they were ruthless in dealing with other businesses, they manipulated the government…