The time when America began to flourish was at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. During this period, names such as JD Rockefeller, A. Carnegie, JP Morgan, H. Ford and C. Vanderbilt became known throughout the world. All these gentlemen had something in common - they massively produced, sold and offered services with great interest to a large part of the population. Oil, electricity, iron, railroads and cars for everyday use were in demand throughout America at that time and later also in the world. The realization of these things for sale immediately made the aforementioned gentlemen not only successful businessmen, but also recognized personalities.
These entrepreneurs built their businesses by buying up their competitors in bulk until they became global multinationals, such as the now-famous General Electric, JP Morgan Chase, US Steel, Ford Motor Company, and many others. One of the first entrepreneurs to use this method was Cornelius Vanderbilt, nicknamed the Commodore. He controlled the railroads, including all the railroads in America, and whenever possible, he would absorb and liquidate the competition to make room for his own company. These were the first monopolistic practices.
Entrepreneurs at that time wanted to bring their services and goods to the forefront and immediately dominate the market for themselves. The general population in America at that time suffered from poor working conditions, as there were no regulations, working hours or hygiene. People paid for this with their lives, but on the other hand they were glad to have jobs at all, as there was high unemployment.
Monopolistic practices were finally addressed by antitrust law, and in 1911 the state succeeded in breaking up the world's largest monopoly, Standard Oil, owned by JD Rockefeller. The court ordered him to break up the basic structure of the company into up to 90 different companies. The company, which he had founded in 1870 in Ohio as a small company, Standard Oil Co. Inc., broke up into companies such as Standard Oil of New York and Standard Oil of New Jersey, today known as ExxonMobil and Chevron.
Andrew Carnegie was a steel magnate. His company, Carnegie Steel Company, is now known as the US Steel Corporation. The name change came after JP Morgan bought it out and consolidated the sector for $13.2 billion. Carnegie's dream was to bring his products to a high level and be the leader in the market. JP Morgan was born into a banking family and a lot was expected of him from the beginning. From the age of eight, his father gave him the responsibility of handling accounting books and accounts receivable, but he liked the idea of investing and supporting businesses. At the time of the development of electricity processing equipment, he teamed up with Edison and they introduced the world to their first electric light bulb. However, Morgan's family did not like this, so they did not support him and asked him to devote himself to the family banking tradition. However, Morgan saw his path in investing and today it seems that he was among the first pioneers of investment banking in general. Among other things, JP Morgan invested in the construction of the Panama Canal, which was a very risky and financially demanding operation at the time.
A few years later, the generation of the first industrialists was replaced by the second wave. Its main representative was Henry Ford. Ford was known not only for his cars, but also for inventions that later came to be called "mass product" or "mass (belt) production". Ford had the idea of producing cars that ordinary people could buy, since at that time cars were only for the rich. He also encountered bureaucratic obstacles, when they did not want to approve the production of a car. Only after redesigning his vehicle did he receive the necessary permits and begin producing the famous Model T. Ford advanced in his idea of producing cars for everyone and found that it was necessary to establish a belt production line. Its goal was to improve production efficiency and the potential to produce more. Later, other brands such as Max Factor (cosmetics) or Hersheys (chocolate) began to use his method of producing cars through belt production.
All these entrepreneurs had something in common. It was competitiveness. They invested in various projects to stay at the top and later, when they realized their position, they began to look for new goals. One of them was philanthropy. Each of them liked to earn, but later they also gained a sense of joy from being able to give meaningfully. Carnegie donated 4.8 billion during his lifetime and Rockefeller up to 7.1 billion USD. These contributions were directed to various charitable organizations, schools, universities, hospitals, disease research and libraries around the world. They also supported communities and the surrounding area. Thanks to them, America is so strong and beautiful today.
When America entered World War I, it was an industrialized country with a strong economy. It was also because of this that it became a buffer within the global community, and it was during this period that the vision of the „American Dream“ was born. For the first time in history, there was a strong middle class with the needs and ability to purchase the goods and services so important to the country’s economic growth. These facts allowed the emergence of a superpower that is still one of the most powerful in the world today.
But many people don't realize that what happened in America was only possible at that time, and only these few entrepreneurs were able to change not only themselves, but also the world around them. Nowhere else has anything like this happened like in America. All of this would not have been possible without this small group of people who were able to make their dreams come true with the conditions they had at that time and in that place. Right in America.
Philip Orth