Final answer:
John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie dominated their industries during the Rise of Big Business through the creation of trusts and monopolies. Rockefeller controlled the oil industry with Standard Oil and sidestepped laws with a holding company model, while Carnegie used vertical integration in the steel industry. Their dominance led to the implementation and enforcement of antitrust laws like the Sherman Act.
Step-by-step explanation:
During the Rise of Big Business in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tycoons like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie utilized trusts and monopolies to gain and maintain control over their respective industries - oil for Rockefeller and steel for Carnegie. Rockefeller's strategy involved acquiring a substantial portion of refineries through the establishment of the Standard Oil Trust, thus centralizing control and reaping profits while outwardly maintaining a facade of multiple independent companies. This allowed him to dictate terms to suppliers and shippers, squeezing out competitors who couldn't demand similar terms due to their smaller size. Similarly, Carnegie's approach to dominating the steel industry was through vertical integration. He did so by purchasing every stage of the steel-making process - from raw materials to transportation - effectively cutting costs and ensuring product quality.
However, these monopolistic tactics faced legal challenges. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled against the Standard Oil Trust, leading Rockefeller to devise the holding company model, which skirted anti-monopoly laws by holding majority stocks in companies, thereby controlling them indirectly; the same was true for many other industries. These actions, among others, led to the creation of federal laws like the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, targeting business practices that unfairly restricted competition. Despite such regulations, at one point, 1 percent of businesses controlled over 40 percent of the U.S. economy, highlighting the tremendous power wielded by trusts and monopolies.
Their dominance continued until President Theodore Roosevelt's administration began antitrust actions against these massive trusts, including both the Northern Securities Trust and the Standard Oil Company, leading to the eventual breakup of these conglomerates.