18-2 / Big Business
The Big Idea
The growth of big business in the late 1800s led to the creation of monopolies.
Main Ideas
8.12.4
8.12.6
Vocabulary
corporations - businesses that sell portions of ownership called stockshares.
Andrew Carnegie - wealthy and powerful business owner in the steel industry
vertical integration - owning all business involved in each step of a manufacturing process
John D. Rockefeller - wealthy and powerful business owner in the oil industry
horizontal integration - owning all businesses in a certain field
trust - legal arrangement grouping together a number of companies under a single board of directors
Vocabulary (Cont.)
Leland Stanford - wealthy and powerful business owner in
the railroad industry
social Darwinism - a view of society based on Darwin’s
theory of natural selection in which the “fittest” rise to
the top
monopoly - total ownership of a product or service
Sherman Antitrust Act - a law that made it illegal to create
monopolies or trusts that restrained competition
The rise of corporations and powerful business leaders led to the dominance of big business in the United States.
Rise � of Corporations
Business leaders became wealthy, powerful and famous
Andrew Carnegie: one of the most admired businessmen of the time
Carnegie’s Philosophy
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do. ��Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best. ��I would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar. ��No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it. ��People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents. ��Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community. �
Carnegie sold Carnegie Steel Company in 1901 for $250 billion, making him the richest man in the world.
Huge corporations resulted from the successful consolidation of smaller busineses
Rockefeller’s Philosophy
Rockefeller’s philanthropies gave out $500 million in his lifetime.
Railroads remained big business
Stanford’s Philosophy
Stanford founded Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA in 1884
Social Darwinism
Anti-Trust Movement
Sherman Antitrust Act
Enduring Philanthropy
Stanford University
Rockefeller Center
Carnegie Hall