Learning Goal: I’m working on a history question and need the explanation and answer to help me learn.
History 1302
1)YouTube Clip: Rockefeller Conspiracy to Take Over the Oil Industry
2)What problems, according to John D. Rockefeller, plagued the late 19th-century oil industry?
3)What was his overall strategy to solve these issues in his interest? Why is this strategy referred to as horizontal integration?
4)What role did the South Improvement Company play within this scheme? How did a hostile take-over of a competitor practically work? Was it possible for competitors to fight back?
5)What effect, do you think, did Rockefellers control over the oil refinery business have on the entire oil industry? (vertical integration)
6)Summary: What is monopoly capitalism? Which of Rockefellers business practices are still used today, which are illegal? In what ways did the American economy benefit from his business ideas, what were the costs?
7)In your view, was Rockefeller a shrewd captain of business or a robber baron?
