Education:Origin of Trust Format in Oil Industry
Grade/Subject
9-12
Time Required for completed lesson
Two Days (research day one and presentation of answers day two to class)
NJCCCS
C. Economics, Innovation, and Technology
6.1.12.C.5.a - Analyze the economic practices of various business organizations (i.e., corporations and monopolies) regarding the production and marketing of goods, and explain the positive or negative impact of these practices on the nation and on individuals.
D. History, Culture, and Perspectives
6.1.12.D.5.a - Analyze government policies and other factors that promoted innovation, entrepreneurship, and industrialization in New Jersey and the United States during this period.
Common Core State Standards
Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6–12
The standards below begin at grade 6; standards for K–5 writing in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects are integrated into the K–5 Writing standards. The CCR anchor standards and high school standards in literacy work in tandem to define college and career readiness expectations—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity.
Text Types and Purposes
Grades 9–10 students:
1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
a. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form and in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from or supports the argument presented.
Grades 11–12 students:
1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as varied syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from or supports the argument presented.
Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6–12
Grades 9–10 students:
2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.
a. Introduce a topic and organize ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
c. Use varied transitions and sentence structures to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic and convey a style appropriate to the discipline and context as well as to the expertise of likely readers.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
Grades 11–12 students:
2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.
a. Introduce a topic and organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
b. Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
c. Use varied transitions and sentence structures to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic; convey a knowledgeable stance in a style that responds to the discipline and context as well as to the expertise of likely readers.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation provided (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
Note: Students’ narrative skills continue to grow in these grades. The Standards require that students be able to incorporate narrative elements effectively into arguments and informative/explanatory texts. In history/social studies, students must be able to incorporate narrative accounts into their analyses of individuals or events of historical import. In science and technical subjects, students must be able to write precise enough descriptions of the step-by-step procedures they use in their investigations or technical work that others can replicate them and (possibly) reach the same results.
Materials Required
Computer access for research and writing answers to questions posed
Anticipatory Set
Standard Oil began as an Ohio partnership formed by the well-known industrialist John D. Rockefeller, his brother William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, chemist Samuel Andrews, silent partner Stephen V. Harkness, and Oliver Burr Jennings, who had married the sister of William Rockefeller's wife. In 1870 Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil in Ohio. Of the initial 10,000 shares, John D. Rockefeller received 2,667; Harkness received 1,334; William Rockefeller, Flagler, and Andrews received 1,333 each; Jennings received 1,000; and the firm of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler received 1,000.[7] Using highly effective tactics, later widely criticized, it absorbed or destroyed most of its competition in Cleveland in less than two months in 1872 and later throughout the northeastern United States.
In the early years, John D. Rockefeller dominated the combine, for he was the single most important figure in shaping the new oil industry.[8] He quickly distributed power and the tasks of policy formation to a system of committees, but always remained the largest shareholder. Authority was centralized in the company's main office in Cleveland, but decisions in the office were made in a cooperative way.[9] In response to state laws trying to limit the scale of companies, Rockefeller and his associates developed innovative ways of organizing, to effectively manage their fast growing enterprise. In 1882, they combined their disparate companies, spread across dozens of states, under a single group of trustees. By a secret agreement, the existing thirty-seven stockholders conveyed their shares "in trust" to nine Trustees: John and William Rockefeller, Oliver H. Payne, Charles Pratt, Henry Flagler, John D. Archbold, William G. Warden, Jabez Bostwick, and Benjamin Brewster.[10]
This organization proved so successful that other giant enterprises adopted this "trust" form. (Wikipedia)
Procedures
Students are in a computer classroom day 1 so that they can do research about the nine trustees of Standard Oil. In a class of 18-27, students can be divided into pairs or trios. The primary questions to answer (in the format of 2-3 sentences for each question) are:
- Who was the trustee and what was their educational and business background?
- What did they bring to the table to enhance the business that was formed?
- What was the benefit to this person as a result of the TRUST being formed?
- What was the benefit of this form of business structure in consolidating an industry?
- Why was this structure such a target of the government?
Assessment/Evaluation
Complete answers and a clear vision of what the trustee brought to the table Presentation in either 1st person or 3rd person as a group of players
Integration
- US History- Reconstruction and Gilded Age periods
- Business—corporate and trust structures; ease of transferability; limitation of liability
Accommodations
Pair or trio special education students with non- special education students
Allow extra time if warranted on IEP or 504
Closure
McClure's was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century.[1] The magazine is credited with creating muckraking journalism. Ida Tarbell's series in 1902 exposing the monopoly abuses of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company and Ray Stannard Baker's earlier look at the United States Steel Corporation focused the public eye on the conduct of corporations. The magazine helped shape the moral compass of the time.
Resources
Texts in classroom- American Nation, A People and a Nation
Google searches on computer
Anticipatory Set
7^ Dies, Edward (1969). Behind the Wall Street Curtain. Ayer. p. 76. http://books.google.com/books?id=DVA2Hdri9XsC.
8^ One of the world's first and biggest multinationals—see Daniel Yergin, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991, p.35.
9^ Hidy, Ralph W. and Muriel E. Hidy. Pioneering in Big Business, 1882–1911: History of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) (1955).
10^ Josephson, Matthew (1962). The Robber Barons. Harcourt Trade. pp. 277. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZqtTdEcT0iAC.
Closure
1. ^ Tassin, Algernon (December 1915). "The Magazine In America, Part X: The End Of The Century". The Bookman: an Illustrated Magazine of Literature and Life XLII (4): 398–404. http://books.google.com/?id=d04DAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA398. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
2. ^ Irving Fang, A history of mass communication, Focal Press, 1997, p.56
3. ^ Union List of Serials ... 3rd Edition. New York, H. W. Wilson, 1965. p.3003.
4. ^ "Marjorie Pickthall". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=42464&query=. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
Submitted by: Laurie G. Kroll Weehawken HS, NJ
