CH. 4.2 THE RISE OF BIG
BUSINESS
OBJECTIVES
1.
2.
3.
Analyze the different methods that businesses
used to increase profits.
Describe the public debate over the impact of
big business.
Explain how the government took steps to block
abuses of corporate power.
FIGHTING FOR PROFITS
• Corporations:
• Group ownership
• Had the same
rights as a person
CONT…
• Corporations worked to maximize profits
• Low wages
• Monopoly: complete control over product
• Cartel: agreement with other businesses to limit production
• Horizontal and Vertical Integration: See pg. 110
• Trust: companies assign their stock to a board of trustees
who combine them into a new company.
• Way to get around laws
DEBATING ROLE OF BIG BUSINESS
• Robber Barons or Captain of Industry?
• Some thought monopolies and cartels were unfair
• Some felt they were a positive force for nation
• Social Darwinism
• “wealth was a measure of one’s inherent value and those
who had it were the most “fit”
GOVERNMENT IMPOSES REGULATIONS
• Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)
• Oversee railroad operations
• Sherman Antitrust Act
• Outlawed trusts “in restraint of trade or commerce among
the several states”
• Not enforced
• Actually helped businesses