United States in the 1800's

In the late 1800s, there passed a great shadow over the country, sped by corruption, desire, and brutality. The rising corporate influences of the time, in their blind ascension to power, found difficulty quelling the mass of laborers and farmers who had risen and fallen in their struggles for justice. Despite the omnipotence of the union between the two towers, government and monopoly, the people responded with unions of their own. And although resistance efforts were often in vain, the strikers, immigrants, and farmers produced revolutionary movements influencing labor struggles and the ideas of socialism affecting labor leaders.
With the inundation of new inventions and techniques that hastened America’s production efficiency, a shrewd few quickly visualized the potential of harnessing the behemoths of demand—railroads, steel, oil, banking, and stock. Multimillionaires such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan gained power by selling out competitors...