The correct answers are 2) By the 1880s, Standard Oil had become the largest oil refiner in the country, controlling access to 90 percent of the refined oil in the US. 4) Throughout the year 1904, investigative journalist Ida Tarbell published her famous series of articles on Standard Oil, mostly critiquing the company's ruthless practices.
The two facts that might help explain Keppler's depiction of Standard Oil are "By the 1880s, Standard Oil had become the largest oil refiner in the country, controlling access to 90 percent of the refined oil in the US." And "Throughout the year 1904, investigative journalist Ida Tarbell published her famous series of articles on Standard Oil, mostly critiquing the company's ruthless practices."
Here, the question is referring to the political cartoon published by cartoonist Udo J. Keppler. The cartoon appeared in "Puck Magazine," in the edition of September 7, 1904.
In the cartoon, Keppler depicts the Standard Oil storage tank as the head of a giant octopus with tentacles wrapped around many industries such as the steel, copper, and shipping companies. This, in reference to the monopolistic practices of John F. Rockefeller. The octopus is holding the statehouse, the U.S. Capitol, and is about to reach for the icon of US politics, the White House. Then you can read the word "Next!"
