In 1901 the company was sold for 475 million dollars. .
Something new to America that came along with the economic transformation was philanthropy. Carnegie was the leader of this and donated an overwhelming amount of money, libraries, buildings, schools, etc. Carnegie though that the idea of hard work and earning your own money was important; however, he felt that eventually some of your wealth should be given back to society. Rockefeller also followed this principle in his own way by donating large pieces of land for the good of environmental conservation. The dominant factory system became an essential part of the manufacturing industry during this time. This system provided a heavy demand for low wage employees. These workers that were living off of a very small income started to organize around these issues facing them. After violent responses from the low wage work force occurred, labor unions were put into place, which solved many issues causing the outbursts. After seeing certain businesses control the majority of a particular commerce, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was introduced to the country preventing corporations from controlling the majority of an industry. While economically things were going quite well for Americans, several years later we would be hit with the a serious economic depression referred to as the Panic of 1893. The overbuilding and unstable financing of railroads all over the nation led to the decline. Due to the panic, 500 banks were shut down and the economy took a major downturn. Unemployment peaked in some parts of the country at above 40 percent. Because many Americans blamed this on the economy being controlled by a small number of powerful corporations, the populist movement gained traction by promising to help mainstream Americans financially. Overall we can see how immense the economic changes in America were due to the new industrial development.
