468 Chapter 17 An Industrial Giant Emerges
Competition and Monopoly: Oil
The pattern of fierce competition leading to combi-
nation and monopoly is well illustrated by the history
of the petroleum industry. Irresistible pressures
pushed the refiners into a brutal struggle to dominate
the business. Production of crude oil, subject to the
uncertainties of prospecting and drilling, fluctuated
constantly and without regard for need. In general,
output surged far ahead of demand.
By the 1870s the chief oil-refining centers were
Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and the New York
City area. Of these Cleveland was the fastest growing,
chiefly because the New York Central and Erie rail-
roads competed fiercely for its oil trade and the Erie
Canal offered an alternative route.
The Standard Oil Company of Cleveland,
founded in 1870 by a thirty-one-year-old merchant
named John D. Rockefeller, emerged as the giant
among the refiners. Rockefeller exploited every pos-
sible technical advance and employed fair means and
foul to persuade competitors either to sell out or to
join forces. By 1879 he controlled 90 percent of the
nation’s oil-refining capacity along with a networkGulf of
MexicoATLANTICOCEANL.Su
periorL.M
ichig
anL.
Hu
ronL. ErieL.
OntarioLake ErieCANADALOUISIANAMICHIGANINDIANA OHIO
ILLINOISMISSISSIPPIALABAMA
GEORGIASOUTH
CAROLINANORTH
CAROLINAVIRGINIAWEST
VIRGINIAKENTUCKYTENNESSEENEW YORKPENNSYLVANIA
N.J.CONN.MASS.VERMONT
N.H.MAINER.I.MARYLANDDELAWAREPittsburghClevelandFLORIDAPittsburghMonroevilleMcKeesportNew
KensingtonClevelandType of Plants:
Blast furnace
Rolling mill, steel work
Bridge building plant
Companies:
The Carnegie Co.
Federal Steel Co.
National Steel Co.
National Tube Co.
American Steel and Wire
Co. of New Jersey
American Tin Plate Co.
American Steel Hoop Co.
American Sheet Steel Co.
American Bridge Co.
Lake Superior Iron Mines
Independent Firms:
Blast furnace
Rolling mill
Companies:Bethlehem Steel Co.Republic Iron and
Steel Co.Lackawana Iron and
Steel Co.
Pennsylvania Steel Co.
of New Jersey
Cambria Steel Co.
Crucible Steel Co. of
America
Tennessee Coal, Iron,
and Railroad Company
Jones and Laughlins LtdFirms Incorporated into U. S. SteelJ.P. Morgan’s consolidation that created U.S. Steel.