Standard Oil

Standard Oil

Gilded Age - John D. Rockefeller

The Gilded Age, and the years leading up to it, introduced a new kind of wealth, one that was controlled by a select elite. These "Captains of Industry" were coined as Robber Barons by their critics and consisted of JP Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller is more relevant to this post, mainly because of the historical context of Martin Dressler. Rockefeller was a "Captain" of the oil industry, where he made his Standard Oil into a multi-million dollar enterprise, something Martin would strive for in his hotel business but could not even dream of attaining. Rockefeller would retire from Standard Oil towards the end of the 1890s due to his mental health deprecating. Nevertheless, Rockefeller would be responsible for controlling one of the most successful monopolies of all time and creating the University of Chicago where he donated millions to up until 1932. His impact, both in business, education, and even philanthropy, would set a new stage of capitalism where the distribution of wealth seems to reach a split in the road; the rich being richer and the poor being poorer. In fact, by 1900, it is said that one-tenth of the country owned nine-tenths of the wealth in the country, ultimately leading to the 1% that is coined today as holding an insurmountable amount of wealth. Each "Captain of Industry" would hold some responsibility in the reshaping of the United States economically, helping New York City to grow even further while also leaving their impact in the US through buildings and institutions like JPMorgan Chase Bank and Carnegie Hall.

"Ida Minerva Tarbell." Web for Ida Tarbell. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

Gilded Age

Jonathan Lim