The overwhelming influence of monopolies and trusts

The overwhelming influence of monopolies and trusts, like the ones deminstrated by Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, and Carnegie’s US Steel, led to economic debate that were never fully resolved satisfactorily. The utilization of integration by John D. Rockefeller allowed for him to simply buy smaller oil companies and merge them with his own, eliminating the competition in addtion to gathering more resources and employees at the already existing companys. Many buisnesses monopoized small buisnesses so that their own could grow. “Monopoly and anti-monopoly… represent the two great tendencies of our time; monopoly, the tendency to combination: anti-monopoly, the demand for social conrtol of it. As the man is ben toward buisiness or patriotism, he will negotiate combination or agitate for laws to regulate them.”(Doc 2) This system was allowed by a laissez-faire approch where major corporations would be able to fund campaigns and other endeavors the politicians may have previously considering. Lloyd, a financial writer and social reformer, targeted politicians to point out that the only two choices left to choose from is to either to join a trust or to actively speak out against them. Keppler’s 1899 political cartoon (Doc 3) also points out that the trusts and monopolies have the politics of the era, in the cartoon, specifically the senators. The political cartoon shows how bosses of the senate rule over everyone else. Big buisnesses monopolize, and the trust are much bigger than conrgress because they controlled how much money was made and new technology. They also were running all industries, and the people’s entrance in the corner of the cartoon is closed becauss they had no money and no political power.