Editing J. P. Morgan (section)

===Criticisms and investigations===
[[File:I Like a Little Competition.jpg|alt=|thumb|upright|''"I Like a Little Competition"—J. P. Morgan'', [[pen and ink]] by [[Art Young]], relating to the answer Morgan gave to the [[Pujo Committee]] in 1912, when asked whether he disliked competition.{{sfn|Burgan|2007|p=93}}]]
While conservatives hailed Morgan for civic responsibility, strengthening the national economy, and devotion to the arts and religion, critics of banking and consolidation viewed him as one of the leading figures in the system they rejected.{{sfn|Strouse|1999|p={{page needed|date=January 2023}}}}{{sfn|Morris|2006|p={{page needed|date=January 2023}}}} They attacked Morgan for the terms of his 1895 loan of gold to the U.S. Treasury. Many,{{who|date=January 2023}} including writer [[Upton Sinclair]], attacked him for his handling of the [[Panic of 1907]].{{how|date=January 2023}}

In December 1912, Morgan testified before the [[Pujo Committee]], a subcommittee of the [[United States House Committee on Banking and Currency|House Banking and Currency committee]]. The committee ultimately concluded that a small number of financial leaders was exercising considerable control over many industries. The partners of J.P. Morgan & Co. and directors of First National and [[Citibank|National City Bank]] controlled aggregate resources of $22.245&nbsp;billion, which [[Louis Brandeis]] compared to the value of all the property in the twenty-two states west of the [[Mississippi River]].{{sfn|Brandeis|1914|loc=ch. 2}}

In the early 2000s, an investigation by historian James Lide discovered that through parts of its business, [[JPMorgan Chase]] accepted thousands of slaves as collateral on loans made to plantation owners in the early 19th century, and that it ended up owning several hundred slaves.<ref>{{Cite news |last=JOURNAL |first=Robin SidelStaff Reporter of THE WALL STREET |title=A Historian's Quest Links J.P. Morgan To Slave Ownership |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB111568595843228824 |access-date=May 1, 2023 |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=May 10, 2005 |language=en-US}}</ref> The banks in question, Citizens' Bank and Canal Bank, both now part of JPMorgan, served plantations from the 1830s until the [[American Civil War]], and sometimes took ownership of slaves when the plantation owners defaulted on loans. JPMorgan estimated that between 1831 and 1865, the two banks accepted approximately 13,000 slaves as collateral and ended up owning about 1,250 slaves. An apology was made in compliance with a rule requiring companies to detail past dealings with the slave trade when doing business with the city of Chicago.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Jamillah |date=June 30, 2022 |title=JP Morgan Bank Slavery Disclosure |url=https://www.phila.gov/media/20230206134453/JP-Morgan-Bank-Slavery-Disclosure.pdf |access-date=May 2, 2023 |website=City of Philadelphia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Janssen |first=Claudia I. |date=January 2012 |title=Addressing Corporate Ties to Slavery: Corporate Apologia in a Discourse of Reconciliation |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10510974.2011.627974 |journal=Communication Studies |language=en |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=18–35 |doi=10.1080/10510974.2011.627974 |s2cid=30404803 |issn=1051-0974}}</ref>