USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -By 1878, Standard controlled more than 90% of total U.S. refining capacity. To formalize this economic empire, Rockefeller and associates created the Standard Oil Trust Agreement in 1882, later reorganized as the Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) as a legal holding company under New Jersey law in 1899.

Detailed explanation-2: -In 1882, Standard Oil Trust created a network of Standard Oil companies throughout the country, led by a board of trustees, where Rockefeller owned over one third of the certificates. By the late 1880s, Standard Oil controlled 90% of American refineries.

Detailed explanation-3: -Rockefeller exploited every possible 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 network of oil pipelines and large reserves of petroleum in the ground.

Detailed explanation-4: -In 1882, Rockefeller ended competition in the oil industry by forming the Standard Oil Trust, where Rockefeller gained control of over 90% of the oil refining in the country!

Detailed explanation-5: -Rockefeller, Sr. in Cleveland, Ohio. Rockefeller consolidated small oil refineries in the Cleveland area to form the Standard Oil Company in 1870. The Gilded Age began in 1877, following the conclusion of Reconstruction.