Because our initial interest was in consumer protection, but we realized the topic was too broad to thoroughly

research, we began to narrow our focus into antitrust laws. Upon researching the most prominent cases, we found that many of the early acts, such as the Sherman and Clayton Acts, were directed towards monopolies, and that one corporation in particular instigated the founding of these: Standard Oil. hrough a better understanding of the early oil business and the impact of Standard Oil, we concluded that Standard Oil was an interesting topic that also tied well with the theme. !e started our research by familiarizing oursel"es with the topic, so we scoured websites for any facts pertaining to the topic. After getting a basic understanding of the history of the Standard Oil Company, we then created a document to hold and categorize the general information. his helped us to form a small outline and #now e$actly what to research for future reference. !e then narrowed our research to #ey indi"iduals whom were rele"ant to both the creation and destruction of Standard Oil. %da arbell&s The History of the Standard Oil Company pro"ided an in'depth first hand account of the monopoly at the pea# of its reign, and further brought the issues with their business tactics to perspecti"e. (ue to the lac# of images and surplus of information, we decided that a website would be the best method of portraying our #nowledge of the topic. he website also allowed for more interacti"e displays of information, which was necessary for the timeline. By starting with categories, this allowed for us to determine the subcategories, which ser"ed as a blueprint for researching the crucial information while disregarding the unimportant facts. !e then began adding the te$t which we found to be the most rele"ant to the topic, and then completed the research portion by filling the pages with supplements, such as pictures and )uotes. o enhance the structure of the website, we added the timeline, as well as enhancing it to be more "isually appealing. Our topic tied to the *+( theme by the fact that Standard Oil had disregarded the rights of other businesses to ha"e the chance to compete for economic prosperity, and the rights of people to ha"e freedom in their choice in their oil pro"ider. his also stressed the responsibility of Congress to

ensure fair competition for all trades, and to also stop monopolies from rising. Also, since the Standard Oil Company had the power to modulate oil prices, they could set a price "ery high in order to ma$imize profit, but then they will be breaching consumer rights, since the consumers ha"e no power to rebel against the prices gi"en by a monopoly.