J.P Morgan and the Rise of Business - Research Paper Example

Discussion J.P. Morgan was born in 1837 in Hartford Connecticut to Junius Morgan and Juliet Pierpont. Being the only son among four other siblings made him to be more entrenched in the family business. He was to gain invaluable experience from working at George and Peabody Company, a firm in which his father had entered a partnership. Upon his return from New York, he became involved in working for the Duncan Sherman and Company from which he gradually rose in the ranks. Morgan established the J.P. Morgan & Company in 1861 which was to be the subsidiary of his father’s J.S. Morgan. J.P.

Morgan made a name for himself through many shrewd deals which involved manipulation of gold prices for a profit. Since his father did not look kindly upon such shady dealings by Morgan, he forced the company into a partnership with Charles Dabney a successful Philadelphia banker (Geisst 35-39). J.P Morgan was involved in the rapidly developing railway industry during this time from which he made handsome returns. By the year 1869, Morgan was in charge of Susquehanna and Albany Railroad. By 1879, Morgan had made a name for himself from the sale of stock worth twenty five million dollars in the New York Railroad through a surreptitious consortium.

Morgan made a handsome return on his investment in the deal which made his name famous making his to be appointed to the board of the New York Central Railroad board of directors soon after. A series of cunning business deals culminated with the formation of the Interstate Commerce Railway Association whose main aim was to thwart competition (Kwak and Simon 78-87). The group was composed of railway tycoons who were keen on protecting their businesses from increasing competition from small holders.

The practice by the Interstate Commerce Railway Association of running down competing railroads through cartel led to the enactment of the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 which made it illegal for companies to behave in cartel like behavior. Most of modern day American laws on cartels are based on this act of 1887 (Chernow 172-3). Morgan began to associate closely with the Union government in 1872 through his purchasing of treasury bonds and bills. The 1893 financial panic further increased the profile and stature of Morgan when he was put mandated to act as a central bank by the government.

The US had no central bank system and was such in danger of collapsing due to lack of controls on the monetary system. In conjunction with European bankers with whom his father and he had acquired connections, he made a deal for the United States to get a loan of 65 million dollars from Europe. While Morgan made a lot of money from the transaction, he has been tagged as a robber baron by many critics since he declined to divulge how much he had made from the syndicate. Modern day history scholars in the field of economics acknowledge Morgan with saving the economic system of the US from imminent disintegration by his act (Morris 69-78).

Morgan has also been involved in the funding of many major American utilities companies. In 1879 Morgan was actively concerned in the giving of financial support to the research of the Edison Electric Company. Morgan is credited with the merger between Edison Electric Company and a rival to form the giant General Electric. Morgan was heavily involved in the provision of