John D.

Rockefeller
Father of Standard Oil By: Jacob Foote Period: 3A

In 1859 John D. Rockefeller started his first business. He dealt hay, grains, meats, and so on. With the rapid expansion of the oil industry in Pennsylvania, he would soon construct his own oil refinery hoping to make money. It would become one of the largest refineries in the U.S. and Rockefeller would then devote his time in the oil business. At the time John was the most hated man in America. He was described as evil and cruel. Despise what they thought of him, he pressed on in search of a perfect business. A year later in the backwoods of Pennsylvania he found oil. Over night wood cutters cut down entire forests to put up oil towers in hope of finding oil. Rockefeller thought that refining oil had a much more steady income than to drilling it. Soon they would build a railroad line going from Cleveland to the oil filled region. John would build his oil refinery right next to it. It was one of the first refineries to develop kerosene, which was a cheap and clean alternative fuel to plain oil. With the increasing demand for his product, Rockefeller was convinced that it would make him rich. When Rockefeller was 25 his oil refinery became one of the biggest in the world. Continuing his industry, John gathered up all the independent oil workers and had them work for him. This movement would greatly impact the American economy. After several bank loans later, Rockefeller set up the Standard Oil Company

in Ohio. He teamed up with the local railroad called South Improvement Company. With this addition he could easily transport huge loads of oil quickly. Rockefeller did many things to try and put competing companies out of business. For example, he would buy out all the barrels so that they would have no way to store and transport oil. He even bought out the chemicals needed to refine oil. In order to keep his work secret, he instructed his workers to communicate in code. Johns code name had become Chowder. Several companies pretended to act like competitors of the Standard Oil Company, but in actuality they were working as one of his own. In 2 months, Rockefeller had taken over 22 out of 24 oil businesses. He had totally changed the way America did business. In 1879, he controlled 90 percent of oil refineries in the entire world. In a few years he would control 90 percent of the sales of oil. This is exactly why John Rockefeller was know as the Father of Standard Oil. In 1883 he moved to New York, the center of Americas growing economy. Now John wants to further increase his business to become the biggest and most powerful in the world. Later, in 1885 he moved his company inside a granite building near Wall Street called 26th Broadway. Hid success would be know as the first multinational corporation.

John faced many court cases and law suits by people who aimed at shutting him down for good. Others called 26th Broadway a Cave for pirates, or A den for the cutthroats of Congress. By this time half of America wanted Rockefeller dead. The other half wanted a share of the cash. By the end of his career, the Standard Oil Company would make over 40 million dollars.

Bibliography
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MaJeW4XBxU http://www.biography.com/people/john-d-rockefeller-9461341 http://www.notablebiographies.com/Pu-Ro/Rockefeller-JohnD.html