The Gilded Age ushered in an era of great economic change for the United States and its citizens, from labor strikes to panics and corporate trusts richest innovators in the United States at the time. The Gilded Age will always be remembered for its great innovations that shaped America into what it is in the present. One of the most important and famous philanthropists of the Gilded Age, John D. Rockefeller, had a lasting effect on the United States. He was America's first billionaire. Rockefeller entered the oil business by first investing in an oil refinery in Cleveland, Ohio in 1863. He founded his own oil company called "Standard Oil", which controlled nearly 90% of America's oil refineries by 1880. At first, Rockefeller took borrowed money from some of his friends to buy some shares and take control of his first refinery in Ohio. Then he formed the "Standard Oil Company" together with his brother William Rockefeller and other groups of men, John D. Rockefeller was the largest shareholder of the company. Standard Oil was a monopoly in the oil industry by purchasing other refineries that competed with Standard Oil to distribute and market oil around the world. Standard Oil even went so far as to produce its own barrels of oil and employed scientists to develop other uses for kerosene and petroleum products. John D. Rockefeller was seen as a target of “muckraking” by journalists, who saw him as a monopolistic giant creating a monopolistic corporation in America that helped build his vast oil empire. Critics accused Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices such as competitive pricing when dealing with products and of negotiating with railroads to eliminate his competitors. The United States Supreme Court ruled... middle of paper... a federal court that the Pullman workers' strike was illegal. The workers, however, did not return to their jobs the next day, so President Garfield sent in federal troops to break the strike and help the trains move forward. The angry rioters were violent with the arriving soldiers escorting the trains, and as a result, many rioters and workers were killed by federal troops who opened fire on them. Most workers returned to their old jobs, continuing to earn the same wages as before. The Gilded Age was a wonderful time in history thanks to the innovations of some of the best-known philanthropists in the United States who shaped America into what it is today with their work. monopolistic companies of the time. Although workers may have been treated unfairly due to the competition that other companies provided to each other, the Gilded Age is an era to remember.