A Century in the Sun
7 Terms from the film
1. Standard Oil: only company in the industry to guarantee a uniformed quality of kerosene. It became the most sought out product in the country, bringing in investor after investor. Standard Oil is the country’s first monopoly, Rockefeller was in charge.
2. Monopoly: a market structure in which one firm has complete control oversupply allowing to set a profit maximizing price. A market complete dominated by a single firm where it has complete control over total supply. They produce the unique product with no substitutes, the firm is a price maker and by changing supply the can charge what they want to maximize profit.
3. Harpers Weekly: was an American magazine that was for the emancipation and black civil rights. It was published by Harper & Brothers in 1857 in New York.
4. Frontier: is a boundary that separates two countries.
5. Swamp and Overflow land Act: Florida offered lavish lands, so they acquired millions of acres of land from the federal government in 1850 which was swamp and overflow land act and that land was the be used for internal improvements
6. East Coast Railway: was the largest and most accessible harbor on Florida’s east coast all by Henry Flagler from September 1895.
7. Oversea Railroad: was built in Key West and is 128 miles long, it took 7 years to create and began to be constructed in 1905. It was available to passengers until 1935, when a hurricane destructed it.
7 Individuals from the film
1. John D. Rockefeller: was the founder of the Standard Oil Company and was the world’s wealthiest man. In 1864 bought his first oil refinery, after Civil War ended the demand for kerosene rose in the urban areas. So his profits soared, he bought his own ships to transp...
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...was destroyed by a hurricane.
Reflection
After watching a century in the sun it showed me how much a significance Henry Flagler has made in Florida. I didn’t know Henry was the man who started the city of St. Augustine and Miami. Henry significantly changed Florida and without him doing so we wouldn’t have been so advanced with transportation and tourism. Till’ this day tourism is high in Florida because we are the sunshine state and appealing scenery with the help of hotels that attract, which all started from Flagler. This film educated me and taught me that without Henry and his vision for Miami to be a bustling city it could have possibly been something entirely different. Overall this film was entertaining and informative because I learned that Henry Flagler wasn’t just a wealthy man, he made a difference to Florida and urbanized the state at a rapid pace.
Florida became a state in 1845 and almost immediately people began proposing to drain the Everglades. In 1848, a government report said that draining the Everglades would be easy, and there would be no bad effect. Canals and dams were dug to control seasonal flooding. Farmers grew vegetables in the rich soil of the drained land, Ranchers had their cattle graze on the dry land, and new railways lines were constructed to connect communities throughout south Florida; but the ecosystem of the Everglades was not suited for either farming or ranching. The natural cycle of dry and wet seasons brought a devastating series of droughts and floods. These had always been a p...
The oil industry began to expand because of the use of kerosene lamps. Rockefeller renamed the business to Standard Oil Company when his brother William, Andrews, Henry M. Flagler, S.V. Harkness, and others joined his partnership. The company reached a capitol of $1million.
Edward W. Lawson, The Discovery of Florida and Its Discoverer (St. Augustine: Edward W. Lawson, 1946) , accessed March 15, 2014, http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00026726/00001/2j
As America’s first billionaire, few individuals in history can compare with John D. Rockefeller Sr. His wealth around the turn of the 20th century would be worth roughly twenty-two billion dollars in modern United States dollars. It is undeniable that Rockefeller changed the landscape of the American petroleum industry by defining the nature of oil production. By 1883, Rockefeller was laying the foundations for what we now know as the vertically integrated company and the modern multinational. The fruit of Rockefeller’s labor, the Standard Oil companies, controlled ninety five percent of petroleum refining and transport by 1880. It would not come as a surprise, given Rockefeller’s opulence, to find Standard Oil and its business practices under close scrutiny by his competition as well as the federal government. Rockefeller’s ruthless and legally questionable business tactics threatened the well-being of the United States’ capitalistic economy. Although the federal government had a prepared response to monopolies, the Sherman Antitrust, it was not enforced to its fullest potential because of the overwhelming influence possessed by Rockefeller due to his wealth. At the time of Standard Oil’s dissolution, their prominence was already waning, providing an entry point for powerful trust busters, such as Theodore Roosevelt and influential writer, Ida M. Tarbell. Standard Oil was allowed to exist for over a decade because of the economical, political, social, and legal complications in separating Rockefeller’s companies and the oil industry. The proper environment for a dedicated antitrust effort existed only after Standard Oil’s initial decline in influence.
However, the reason Rockefeller controlled 90% is because of a company that basically appeared from nowhere and had some actual competition for Standard Oil and actually surprised Rockefeller. The company was known as the Tidewater Pipe-line Company, it started by building a pipeline from north Pennsylvania to Williamsport. Rockefeller tried to acquire the company but in the end it ended up as Standard only competition with Tidewater controlling 10% of the oil refining market. This was however of not a large concern to Standard as they were developing products besides oil from Vaseline to candy.
Rockefeller was an industrialist and philanthropist who made his fortune by founding the Standard Oil Company in 1870. Attempting to monopolize the industry and squeeze out the middle man, Rockefeller slowly gained almost complete control of the oil industry. He formed the powerful Standard Oil Trust in 1882, which united all of his companies and secured 95% of oil production in the United States for himself. Rockefeller was an industrialist who stamped out all of his competition with his trust, eventually leading to Congress intervention.
With John seeing drilling as risky, his chosen path was refining. In 1865, John bought out Andrews, Clark, and Rockefeller, gaining complete control. John borrowed tens of thousands of dollars, and reinvested all profits to make his company continuously grow. Expansion of his refining company skyrocketed. John greatly disliked waste, he was devoted to increasing efficiency. John 's company conducted research and development of new and better products. Kerosene was the main product, used for illuminating oil. One barrel of oil yielded sixty five percent illuminating oil (kerosene), ten percent gasoline, and five to ten percent benzoyl, the remainder being tar and waste. The drilling industry was overwhelmed with drilling and overproduction.
After Rockefeller saw the potential in the oil business, he formed his own company, The Standard Oil Company in 1870. In 1877, Standard Oil Company bought out Colombia conduit Co. which gained them control of lots of pipelines and refineries. (Poole 14) By 1879, Standard Oil Company owned 90% of the oil refineries in the United States. (Poole 14) Every company he bought out, showed the power that had become of him. Rockefeller’s wits bring him to inspire a many of people From 1891-1892 Rockefeller had a partial nervous breakdown from overwork and lost all his hair, suffering from ill health in the early 1890’s. (Poole 15) Rockefeller’s wealth increased and became a problem because he didn’t know what to do with all the money. (Poole 15) Rockefeller had so much money, when he got old, beyond ability to run
Rockefeller was America’s first billionaire, and he was the true epitome of capitalism. Rockefeller was your typical rags-to-riches businessman, and at the turn of the twentieth century, while everyone else in the working class was earning ten dollars max every week, Rockefeller was earning millions. There has been much discussion as to whether Rockefeller’s success was due to being a “robber baron”, or as a “captain of industry”. By definition, a robber baron was an industrialist who exploited others in order to achieve personal wealth, however, Rockefeller’s effect on the economy and the lives of American citizens has been one of much impact, and deserves recognition. He introduced un-seen techniques that greatly modified the oil industry. During the mid-nineteenth century, there was a high demand for kerosene. In the refining process from transforming crude oil to kerosene, many wastes were produced. While others deemed the waste useless, Rockefeller turned it into income by selling them. He turned those wastes into objects that would be useful elsewhere, and in return, he amassed a large amount of wealth. He sold so much “waste” that railroad companies were desperate to be a part of his company. However, Rockefeller demanded rebates, or discounted rates, from the railroad companies, when they asked to be involved with his business. By doing so, Rockefeller was able to lower the price of oil to his customers, and pay low wages to his workers. Using these methods,
The undertaking of a project as large as building a railroad across the expanse of the United States seemed impossible and way too expensive for any railway companies to undertake; therefore, in the early/mid 1800’s, railway companies and business people began approaching legislators in an attempt to convince them to support railroad expansion. This, combined with economic necessity, helped to pass the first of several land grant bills. The bills entailed the gifting of public land to railroad companies in exchange for railroad track being laid in designated areas. The land that was not used for track was then sold. Both railroad companies and the government gained from this. The land where track was laid also became more valuable and the profit that was made from the sale of the land was used to pay for materials and labor to continue the railroad expansion. (Railroad Land Grants).
...o chance of competing with Standard Oil due to all the tactics they employed to keep their prices low. This ravished small town families and had a similar effect as to what Wal-Mart does to family run shops nowadays. Numerous families living in small town America lost their income because of Standard Oil and forced hardship upon many.
Pratt, Joseph A. “Exxon and the Control of Oil.” Journal of American History. 99.1 (2012): 145-154. Academic search elite. Web. 26. Jan. 2014.
The Gilded Age refers to a period in which things were fraudulent and deceitful; the surface was clinquant while underneath that lustrous coat laid corruption. During the Gilded Age companies recruited to corrupt methods to further increase profits, leading to an increase in power, rapid economic prosperity, and domination of industries, leading to monopolistic corporations. As a result, antitrust laws to regulate business began to emerge in the late 19th and early 20th century known as the Progressive Era. Among these companies was Standard Oil, which was founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller; in 1880, Standard Oil was responsible for refining 90 percent of America’s oil and between 1880-1910, dominating the oil industry (Marshall). The lack of intervention from the government and regulations impeding monopolistic practices allowed Standard Oil to
When John D. Rockefeller merged with the railroad companies, he had gained control of a strategic transportation route that no other companies would be able to use. Rockefeller would then be able to force the hand on the railroads and was granted a rebate on his shipments of oil. This was a kind of secret agreement between the two industries. None of the competition knew what the rates were for the rebates or the rates that Rockefeller was paying the railroad. This made it hard for the competition to keep up with the Standard Oil Company. The consequences led to many oil companies getting bought out by Rockefeller secretly. All in all, 25 co...
One of the Gilded Age’s most prominent well-known philanthropist’s, John D. Rockefeller, had a lasting effect in the United States. He was America’s first ever billionaire. Rockefeller entered the oil business by first investing on an oil refinery in Cleveland, Ohio in 1863. He established his own oil company named “Standard Oil”, which controlled nearly 90 percent of America’s oil refineries by the 1880’s. At first, Rockefeller borrowed money from some of his buddy’s to buy out some stocks and take control of his first refinery in Ohio. He then formed the “Standard Oil Company” along with his brother William Rockefeller and other groups of men, John D. Rockefeller was the largest shareholder of the company. Standard oil was a monopoly in the oil industry for buying other refineries who were competition to Standard oil in order to distribute and market there oil around the globe. Standard oil even went as far as making their own oil barrels and employed scientists to develop other uses for kerosene and petroleum products. John D. Rockefeller was viewed as a target of “muckraking” by journalists, who viewed him as a monopoly giant setting up a monopolistic company in America which helped build his vast oil empire. Critics accused Rockefeller of engaging unethical practices such as competitive pricing when it came to products and negotiating with railroads to eliminate his competitors. The United States Supreme Court wou...