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 (July 8, 1839 to May 23, 1937) continues to rank as one of the richest men in modern times. He rose from modest beginnings to become the founder of Standard Oil in 1870 and ruthlessly set about destroying his competitors to create a monopoly of the oil industry.

Detailed explanation-4: -To implement his trust, Rockefeller and his associates persuaded the stockholders of forty companies to exchange their stock for trust certificates. Within three years, the Standard Oil Trust had consolidated crude‑oil buying throughout its member firms and slashed the number of refineries by half.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.