ABSTRACT
In the period between the end of the Civil War and World War I, America witnessed the greatest consolidation movement in its history. This period gave birth to such giant firms as United States Steel, American Tobacco, International Harvester, Anaconda, American Sugar Refining, Armour, Standard Oil of New Jersey, the large railroads and many other giant corporations. In 1898 the Spanish-American War the US acquired control of the Panama Canal Zone, as a result of a treaty imposed on Panama in 1903, and the Virgin Islands, which it purchased from Denmark in 1917. Dollar Diplomacy of using American military might more for market expansion and commercial gain than for empire building in the traditional sense was reinforced by the adoption of the Open Door' policy towards China. The new national market gave birth to national firms, which destroyed the small-scale regional enterprises that characterised the pre-Civil War economy. The large company became the symbol of American capitalism.
