The Origin of Standard Oil

An important mark in history is a point when there is a change of great significance. Big business grew to sizes wielding incredible power during the late 19th century. The power of these businesses would be expressed in the form of monopolies that would allow them to dominate their specific area of the market, if not multiple areas of the market. John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil was a prime example of a large monopoly over oil and everything that was needed to produce it and distribute it. His control over oil would eventually lead to the need of enacting laws of regulation by the government. Standard Oil would initially draw the attention of the State of Ohio and eventually the Supreme Court. The dissolution of the companies that made up the monopoly of Standard Oil would come with the passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica).

The very origin of Standard Oil began with John D. Rockefeller himself. Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York in 1839 and he moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio in 1853. By 1859, he established a business which dealt with hay, grain, meats, and other merchandise. He first saw a future in oil production in Pennsylvania in the early 1860s. He immediately established his own oil refinery in 1863 and became the largest refinery around the Cleveland area within two years (“John D. Rockefeller”).

In 1870, Rockefeller, along with Samuel Andrews and Henry M. Flager incorporated the Standard Oil Company (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). Rockefeller’s Standard Oil began prospering and soon began buying out competitors. In 1872, the company had almost complete control over all the refineries in Cleveland. With such power, the company could negotiate...

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...The U.S government took action against the company again in 1906 under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica) On May 15 of 1911, the final decision from the Supreme Court came which called for the dissolvent of Standard Oil within 6 months. In the specifics, “the court determines against the Standard Oil Company on the ground that it is a combination in unreasonable restraint of inter-State commerce” (New York Times Company).

The dissolution of Standard Oil marked an important turning point in history for its adding of regulation against monopolies. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which brought an end to this excessive restraint by the company, allowed the Federal government to hold cases against trusts such as the one Standard Oil had. This turning point was the beginning of regulation against restraint or monopolies by other businesses.