Robber Barons

During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s America began to industrialize the majority of the country bringing forth industrial giants like Andrew Carnegie and his steel company along with John D. Rockefeller and his Standard Oil Company. Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States, referred to these industrial giants as “robber barons.” A “robber baron” could be defined as an American capitalist who would do whatever in order to prosper. Carnegie and Rockefeller were considered “robber barons” due to the fact that they held oil and steel industry monopolies. Those monopolies gave them the ability to overpower other companies, robbing them of an opportunity to make their own fortunes, which limited the growth of a capitalist

During the post Civil War period many capitalists took over and ramped up industry. There were also individuals who took industries and monopolized them. Many historians who look back at these capitalists who shaped the post Civil War industry argue about whether they should be viewed as captains of industry who developed large industry, or as robber barons who used industry and monopolies to achieve wealth and take advantage of the working class. This essay will show why they were captains of industry.

J.P. Morgan was considered by many a robber baron, and there are many reasons for this. Pierpont was the richest man in the world in the early nineteenth century, he got to that position by doing things that nowadays would be considered as shady. He owned the biggest monopolistic business ever owned, that means that

During the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, both robber barons and captains of industry were terms used to place businessmen into a good or bad category. The term robber baron is a representation of industrialist who used manipulative methods in order to reach enormous quantities of wealth. Some characteristics of robber barons were: they depleted America of its valuable resources, forced authority to pass laws that would work in there favor, make opponents in the industry go out of business, and force laborers to work in hazardous circumstances with little pay. The term captains of industry meant the exact opposite, these businessmen did positive things in order to reach enormous quantities of wealth. Some characteristics of captains of industry were: they constructed factories to make the accessibility of goods rise, increased production, developed markets, gave to charity, and created more jobs with generous pay. While many historians believe that the industrialist of the 19th century were captains of industry there are others that would object and say that they were indeed robber barons. Would you consider the great industrialist of the 19th century to be robber barons or would you consider them as captains of the industry?

Carnegie, Rockefeller, and JP Morgan really are Robber barons because of what they have done to their workers including the conditions they were kept in. More evidence is that Andrew Carnegie is a Robber baron because he decreased his workers salary by 33% because his workers wanted coal and food in the winter. They asked for these things because they were starving and close to freezing to death, they needed help but they were too greedy to help them, but when they did help their workers they decreased salary or made them work longer to get the money back that they “wasted” on the workers who cared enough to help them in the beginning. But I have a couple extra examples to support my claim. J. P. Morgan is also a Robber Baron because of the

A "robber baron" was someone who employed any means necessary to enrich themselves at the expense of their competitors. Did John D. Rockefeller fall into that category or was he one of the "captains of industry", whose shrewd and innovative leadership brought order out of industrial chaos and generated great fortunes that enriched the public welfare through the workings of various philanthropic agencies that these leaders established? In the early 1860s Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, who came to epitomize both the success and excess of corporate capitalism. His company was based in northwestern Pennsylvania.

In the nineteenth century two of the greatest entrepreneurs were born. These two men, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller epitomized the word monopoly, by becoming the biggest industry giants of their time. Carnegie was the leader of the steel industry, while Rockefeller controlled oil. Both of these men were similar; they came from humble beginnings and showed interest in their careers at a young age.

During the Gilded Age, industrialists were divided into two main categories: Captains of Industry or Robber Barons. Captains of Industry were industrialists who were very wealthy, but used their wealth to give back to the country, such as building libraries or donating to schools. Robber Barons were businessmen who used unethical ways to get wealthy. This essay will be addressing if the industrialists of the gilded age were captains of industry or if they were robber barons.

Throughout the late 19th century, several men such as John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Cornelius Vanderbilt built empires in railroad construction, coal mining, and the oil industry. These industrial leaders helped the economy flourish and created a leading industrial power in the world. After a while, critics began to question their power and objective. Critics began to call them “robber barons” for their selfish and corrupted techniques. While they took advantage of careless government regulation and no income tax, they generated huge business that benefited the country.

1) What was "manifest destiny" and how was it applied to the western frontier? Manifest destiny was a term used by leaders to justify continental expansion as the destiny of America and the divine will of God. It was applied to the western frontier through the use of the words by leaders who needed to justify westward expansion to the people. It was heavily used to put emphasis on the fact that America needed to expand westward, and it was the will of God.

During the Gilded Age, America and the lives of her citizens changed in irreversible ways. No longer did the common man control his own fate. Instead, an elite group of egomaniacal and so called industrial giants bought and sold their way to power, working the system to benefit their own selfish needs. When looking at the immeasurable greed of the tycoons, the horrible conditions they supplied for their workers, and the impoverishment of the common man, it can be concluded that the tycoons of the late 19th century are most accurately described as “robber barons”.

Many saw robber barons as deceitful, but this is actually not the case. Within The Myth of Robber Barons,

The Gilded age period occurred between the civil war to the end of world war 1. During this period, the industry and U.S economy boomed. As those two grew so did the political corruption and misdealing’s among business tycoons. “Robber Barons”, were known as businessmen looking only for an eye of quick money. They provided horribly low wages to their workers with atrocious work conditions to just get ahead of competition. I believe these men did not even consider or care about others as long as their company thrived. They used corrupted dealings and unruly business trades to become rich. These “robber barons” such as, J.D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and many others devised schemes to gain control of markets by buying out failing corporations. This

Horizontal integration involves buying out other companies and taking over one single step of an industrial process. It establishes a monopoly because, with horizontal integration, everyone must go the company that has monopolized that step.

3. Jay Gould-He was one of the Robber Barons who involved with Boss Tweed. He inflated the price of gold and had control of railroads.