Lucas Bledsoe
10/21/15 4th hour John D. Rockefeller Biography John D. Rockefeller lived so long that his life insurance company had to pay him $5 million dollars. That was just a fraction that he had made throughout his life. The late 100’s were a time of great change in America. The country was expanding and new technologies were being created to make life in America easier. I will discuss the background, family information, and life events of John D. Rockefeller, next I will look at John D. Rockefeller's major accomplishments, finishing with his impact on society and history. To start with, I will talk about John D. Rockefeller’s background, family information, and life events. John D. Rockefeller was born July 8, 1839 in Richford New York. John D. Rockefeller was the second of six children. His father William Rockefeller Sr. owned farm property and traded in many goods. William Rockefeller Sr. was the fun loving one of the family. His mother Eliza Davidson was brought up in a very strict family. After living in Oswego, New York for several years, the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1853. John graduated from high school there and excelled in mathematics (World Biography N.P.). In 1870, John organized The Standard Oil Company and with his brothers William, Andrews, Henry M. Flagler, S.V. Harkness, and others. It had a capital of $1 million. By 1872 Standard Oil had purchased and thus collided nearly all refining firms in Cleveland. In 1889 Rockefeller participated in the founding of the University of Chicago. In 1902, Rockefeller established the General Education Board for the “promotion of education within the United States of America (John D. Rockefeller N.P.). Next, I will talk about John D. Rockefeller's major accomplishments. On January 10, 1870, the Standard Oil company of Ohio was formed, which by the early 1880s controlled some 90 percent of U.S. refining and pipeline. In 1890, the U.S. Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, the first federal legislation prohibited trusts and combinations that restrained trade. Two years later, the Ohio Supreme Court dissolved the Standard Oil. In 1911, John retired from Standard Oil. In 1913, the Rockefeller Foundation was created in New York stated. It was created “to promote the wellbeing of mankind throughout the world.” Its primary focus was on people who were poor and excluded (John D. Rockefeller N.P.). In 1901, Rockefeller created an organization to study the cause and prevention of disease. In 1902, the General Education Board (GEB) supported a wide variety of educational improvements, concentrating on medical schools and the improvement of public education in the south. In 1909 John invented the Sanitary Commission to address the problem of hookworm disease. The Rockefeller Foundation was “to promote the wellbeing of mankind throughout the world. Rockefeller gave away the bulk of his fortune in ways designed to do the most good as determined. The sum of his donations to his foundation and other causes were more than $500 million dollars. Before his death in 1937, Rockefeller gave away nearly half of his fortune to churches, medical foundations, universities, and centers for the arts received hefty sums of money (The New Tycoons: John D. Rockefeller N.P.). In conclusion, John D. Rockefeller was the second out of six children in his family, helped to fund the University of Chicago, was President of the Standard Oil Company, and gave over half his fortune to charity before he died. Another thing that John D. Rockefeller did in his life that a lot of people did not know, is that every year, Rockefeller celebrated the anniversary of landing his first job that he got at sixteen. That is how much he cared about getting work done. Also, John was big in giving to people he said “I have always indulged the hope that during my life I should be able to establish efficiency in giving, so that wealth may be of greater use to the present and future generations. If the people can be educated to help themselves, we strike at the root of many of the evils of the world” (Rockefeller N.P.). That is the biography on John D. Rockefeller. |
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