New Patterns of Global Trade
and the United Fruit Company
• U.S. Railroad Entrepreneur Henry C. Meiggs signed
contract with Costa Rica in 1871 to build a railroad
• Minor C. Keith (Meigg’s nephew)
supervised project and took over
business when his uncle died in 1877
Henry C. Meiggs
• During project, Keith purchased land
in Costa Rica and began planting
Bananas
• When the railroad was completed, the transport of passengers
alone did not produce enough money to reduce Keith’s debt
Minor C. Keith
• The transportation and sale of Bananas from Costa Rica to the United States became
very lucrative
• Keith eventually established banana plantations in Panama & Columbia and started
the Tropical Trading and Transport Company
New Patterns of Global Trade
and the United Fruit Company
• In 1899, Keith merged his company with the
Boston Fruit Company, creating the United
Fruit Company
• Andrew Preston (Boston Fruit Co.)
brought a fleet of steamships known
as the “Great White Fleet”
• United Fruit Company eventually became
Chiquita Brands International
New Patterns of Global Trade
and the Development of Tire Companies
• John B. Dunlop was a Scottish Inventor
• Developed the first inflatable pneumatic tire in 1887
• Co-founder of the Dunlop Pneumatic Tire Company in 1889
• During the 1890’s he established divisions in Europe & the U.S.
• Edouard and Andre Michelin created the
replaceable pheumatic tire in 1887
• Michelin Tire was incorporated in 1888
• French cycleist Charles Terront won the
first long distant race in 1891 on Michelin
Tires
New Patterns of Global Trade
and the Development of Tire Companies
• In 1869, Benjamin F. Goodrich purchased the Hudson River Rubber
Company in New York
• In 1870, he founded the Goodrich, Tew & Co. in Akron, Ohio
• In 1880, the Company name was changed to B. F. Goodrich
• Charles Goodyear was the first to vulcanize rubber in 1839
• The U.S. Rubber Company, founded in 1847, had Goodyear
as a major stock holder
• Charles Goodyear died in 1860
• In 1898, Frank Seiberling founded The Goodyear Tire and
Rubber Company in 1898 and teamed up with Henry Ford
New Patterns of Global Trade
and the Development of Standard Oil Company
• Standard Oil began as a partnership with entrepreneur
John D. Rockefeller as the primary stock holder
• In 1870, Rockefeller Incorporated the Standard Oil Co.
• By 1872, Standard Oil Company decimated all the
Competition in Ohio and eventually in the United States
• By the 1880’s, Standard Oil had monopolized the oil
industry in the United States
• In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act,
which created America’s anti-monopolies laws
• Between 1882 – 1906 Standard Oil earned $838 Million