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Article: Trusts
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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TRUSTS
TRUSTS.
The term "trust" derives from English common law. Not until the 1880s, however, with the rise of big business in the United States, did the modern definition of trust come into use.
In 1879, John D. Rockefeller, a rich industrialist and owner of Standard Oil, was facing a crisis. A self-made man who began his career as a bookkeeper at the age of sixteen, Rockefeller had built up Standard Oil through a system of mergers and acquisitions. A persistent entrepreneur, Rockefeller was involved in various industries, including the rapidly expanding railroads. By 1879 the New York State Legislature was looking into Rockefeller's dealings, specifically his railroad mergers, and ...