The life of John D. Rockefeller was filled with silence and mystery. He owned one of the largest businesses of his time, yet there are many questions about him that still haven’t been answered. Attempts at tracing Rockefeller’s family roots have traced his family all the way back to ninth-century France, to a family by the name Roqufeuilles. Johann Peter Rockefeller immigrated to Philadelphia around 1723 with his kids and wife and moved to Amwell, NJ. They were obviously successful farmers who held large landholdings. After a decade Johann’s cousin, Diell, immigrated to Germantown, New York from southwest Germany. Diell’s granddaughter, Christina married her distant relative William. Their son, Godfrey Rockefeller, was the grandfather of John …show more content…
There were three children in Rockefeller’s family Lucy, William, and of course John. All three of them had been born in Richford. Photos of John early in his life show a grim face lacking any expression. In what appeared to be a sudden turnaround in demeanor as John got older he found himself to be attracted and drawn to church. The church John went to as a young boy gave people some insight into his mind, personality, and character. John shared religion with his mother, who found comfort herself in the Bible. Rockefeller was not a fast learner. He was slow at learning, but he was very consistent. Rockefeller later commented about his learning as saying, “I was not an easy student, and I had to apply myself diligently to prepare my lessons.” Rockefeller and his student only attended school for thirty weeks a year, they needed time to work on the farm as well. The school house that he had lessons in a single room building. The discipline at the school was very harsh, especially when compared to today’s standards. If a student misbehaved in class the teacher would hold a slate over the student’s head. Even though Rockefeller went on to accomplish many great things, he lacked any sort of drive or motivation in school. While other students were competing with each other for gold stars and seeking the approval of others, Rockefeller was indifferent to the opinions of others and the school in
It's said that before John D. Rockefeller died, "he gave away about $550,000,000 to charity, more than any other American before him had ever possessed" (98). His money went to schools, churches and also "paid teams of scientists who found cures for yellow fever, meningitis, and hookworm"(97).
Rockefeller was the co-founder of the stand Oil Company. His wealth grew and became the world’s richest man. By the early 1880s, he dominated the oil business with his Standard Oil Company, in which he accounted thirty percent of. In the overall U.S. refineries and pipelines, his company accounted for around ninety percent. John D. Rockefeller was also a major philanthropist.
Matthew Josephson agreed that Rockefeller was indeed a "robber baron". In the book Taking Sides, he claims that Rockefeller was a deceptive and conspiratorial businessman, whose fortune was built by secret agreements and wrung concessions from America's leading railroad companies (Taking Sides 25). 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.
These industrialists are the pillars of the American society due to the successful outcomes of their hard works. Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were both born in an underprivileged families. Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller became the breadwinner of the family at a young age. They both worked hard despite of being born to a
Another questionable hard workingman is that of John Davison Rockefeller. Rockefeller was born in R...
Many people consider Rockefeller a robber of industry because of his forcible ways of gaining his monopolies. Rockefeller was fond of buying out small and large competitors. If the competitors refused to sell they often found Rockefeller cutting the prices of his Standard Oil or in the worst cases, their factories mysteriously blowing up. Rockefeller was obsessed with controlling the oil market and used many of undesirable tactics to flush his competitors out of the market. Rockefeller was also a master of the rebate game. He was one of the most dominant controllers of the railroads. He was so good at the rebate that at some times he skillfully commanded the rail road to pay rebates to his standard oil company on the traffic of other competitors. He was able to do this because his oil traffic was so high that he could make or break a section of a railroad a railroad company by simply not running...
Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller: Captains of industry, or robber barons? True, Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller may have been the most influential businessmen of the 19th century, but was the way they conducted business proper? To fully answer this question, we must look at the following: First understand how Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller changed the market of their industries. Second, look at the similarities and differences in how both men achieved dominance.
An interesting chief of justice is John Roberts. Reason for this being is that he has participated in many important case in which have related to the violation of the first amendment. Chief Justice Roberts has had a successful start to his career and will be known for his very interesting cases and arguments.
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.
Name of serial killer: My serial killer is named Richard Chase. He was also known as the “Vampire of Sacramento” or the “Dracula Killer”.
To begin the look at Rockefeller’s life, let’s look back to his birth. John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8th, 1839 to Eliza and William Avery Rockefeller in Richmond, New York and was the eldest of his other 4 siblings; Lucy, William Jr., Mary and Franklin. John’s parents could easi...
John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 in Rickford, New York. He grew up in a very poor family. His father was William Avery Rockefeller. He claimed to be a doctor, who for $25 would cure various diseases. His mother was Eliza Davison Rockefeller. She was the role model who taught Rockefeller his values and morals (Poole). John Rockefeller was the second child. Altogether he had five brothers and sisters (Outman 139). As a child he was very business smart. At the young age of 12 he loaned $50 to a famer. He charged a 7% interest. When he was older he said this about the business deal, “The impression was gaining ground with me that it was a good thing to let money be my servant and not make myself a slave to money” (Poole).
Ford Jr. was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska, but kept neither his name nor his hometown for long. In just weeks, he was whisked away by his mother, Dorothy Ayer Gardner, to her parents' home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A plucky woman who would not tolerate abuse, she divorced his father, Leslie Lynch King Sr., within the year, and less than three years later, was married to Gerald Rudolff Ford, a local paint company salesman, from whence "Jerry" Jr. got his name—although it was not made legal until he was 22 years old.
Rockefeller was the son of a trader, and began in the oil company when he was 20. He knew this was the area to invest in, because coal was being replaced by oil in the power industries. By 1870, he had his first oil business, called the Standard Oil Company. Like Carnegie, Rockefeller used horizontal integration and within two years, he had also created a monopoly. He made more money because he paid his workers extremely low wages and treated them poorly. Unlike Carnegie who offered his workers benefits and stock options, Rockefeller gave his workers poor conditions and even abused them at times. Even though Rockefeller was a philanthropist and gave a lot of his money away, that does not make up for how he treated other people and put people out of business to become wealthy. He is best known for a robber baron because he simply used his power to destroy other businesses. He did whatever he could to control the oil industry, even if that meant stepping on others on the way to his success. He reduced the costs of his company, and he was then able to drive other companies out of business, which is how he became one of the richest men in history.
St. John Rivers exhibits all of the qualities of a respectable Victorian man. His father "was a plain man enough; but a gentleman, and of as ancient a family as could be found" (Bronte 383). St. John's father, although a gentleman, had lost a great deal of money "by a man he had trusted turning bankrupt" (384). In short, St. John's station in life is one of a gentleman, although he lacks an inheritance of any kind. As he describes himself to Jane, "since I am poor and obscure, I can offer you but a service of poverty and obscurity... for I find that, when I have paid my father's debts, all the patrimony remaining to me will be this crumbling grange" (395-396). St. John sees his financial situation as a virtue. It is obvious that his financial situation does not distress him; he still goes to college and becomes a minister. In his account of his personal life he leaves out nothing. His past is known, an...