Jason “Jay” Gould, a ruthless robber baron of the Industrial Revolution, is guilty of stock manipulation to grapple control with other wealthy industrialists, attempting to influence the government outside the boundaries of legal lobbying, and the attempted kidnapping of a foreign dignitary after legal means to his greed-driven ends were expended. The accused was born on a farm in Roxbury, New York. After scamming his first employer, a blacksmith, into giving him half-interest in the shop that he could sell to his father, he later entered into several business partnerships with other businessmen to get into the leather industry in Pennsylvania. Taking advantage of his former partners, he escalated quickly and began investing in railroad stock. …show more content…
During the Civil War, Gould and his business partners had gotten rich off exploiting the railroad running from New York and let it fall into disrepair while they lined their pockets instead of serving their country. When Vanderbilt tried to make a move on the railway, they inflated its worth illegally by creating thousands of illegal, false stocks that tripled its apparent worth. After seeming to give in to Vanderbilt, an arrest warrant was issued for Gould and his conspirators. How did they evade the warrant? By sneaking into New York as fugitives and using their financial power to cash in for political power and secure legitimacy for their previous actions in the stock market. Any on the jury must ask themselves, is this fair? These men, having enough wealth amassed from illegal activity, bought themselves from Lady Justice’s grasp- it is clear Baron Gould still has yet to be faced by its …show more content…
When he felt as though Gordon-Gordon had swindled him in a business arrangement that they had come to terms on, Gould and his co-conspirators kidnapped the man and tried to bring him across the border into the United States. Before these criminals reached the border, they were apprehended by mounted law enforcement who detained them on Canadian soil without bail for their crimes. Gould then used his political influence to free himself by having the governor of Minnesota threaten war with the Canadian government. What business does a kidnapper, who will break international and national laws - even go as far as to stoke the flames of war between two otherwise peaceful nations, have walking the
Referred to as a “antislavery zealot” by some and as a “heroic hand” by others, John Brown was certainly one who stained history with blood. John Brown’s conduction of anti-slavery raids to fight “fire with fire”, triggered by his radical ways to fight the tyranny that was slavery,Brown impacted the whole country. During this time most anti-slavery supporters were peaceful and only tried to fight slavery “morally”, however John Brown lead many anti slavery raids his most famous and the one which he would have to pay with his life being, the Harpers Ferry Raid. The seizing of federal armory and arsenal with a group of men with just a mere hope of the local slave population helping him in order to reach success and create a nation wide effect failed miserably when the slavery population frightened did not join his raid. Captured, John Brown delivered one of the most enticing and alluring speech during his trial, his last speech, his address to the court in which he admits his actions in his “crusade” to fight slavery as well as patronizingly accepts his punishment without regret or remorse. In his speech he address one objection, being that if he was fighting on behalf of the rich, high class and those who supported and benefited from the tyrant slavery system,he would have been rewarded and praised instead of punished, proving that once again the tyrant, oppresing, racist and discriminating federal government was being run by bias men who aimed to keep the inhuman hierarchy
A powerful example of this, is the fact that Nelson Hackett was to be extradited back to the United States even after the Canadian officials knew that he was a slave and was trying to escape from his master (Document 7; Document 6). The major reason for the extradition of Hackett was due to his grand larceny charge, where he stole goods ranging from a roan mare to a gold watch from not only his master, but Augustus J. Ward and W. L. Wilson as well (Document 7; Document 5). With that being said, the Canadian and American governments followed the Fugitive Offenders’ Act, as Hackett was to be given severe consequences for fleeing from Arkansas to Canada after committing grand larceny (Document 9; Document 7). Therefore, both the Canadian and American government showed zero tolerance to thieves while providing assurance to those who had their property stolen that the issue would be properly dealt with. It is important to note, that in these documents, Alfred Wallace among other American citizens in the year of 1841 viewed slaves as a part of their property rights as slavery was still legal in the United States until 1865 (Document 6; Lesson 2 Podcast). Thus, for Wallace, Hackett was of great value to him as he was more than a slave, he was also property, so by running away he was stealing himself away from Wallace (Document 6; Lesson 2
For instance, Bancroft earned one thousand pounds a year for working as a British spy, which was a lot of money in the late 1700’s. In addition, Bancroft was hoping the British would grant him a monopoly for making color dyes. To clear his reputation in the Americas, Deane would most likely expose Bancroft, Then, the British Parliament surely would not give him one thousand pounds or grant him anything. However, if Deane somehow did not make it to the Americas, then Bancroft would continue to be successful and further expand his riches. Deane and Bancroft worked closely together throughout the years. While Deane suffered for his actions, Bancroft got away with them. For example. Bancroft fled when he was (rightly) accused of associating with John the Painter, who attempted to burn England’s Navy. Deane’s records mentioned he knew about this affair. So, when Deane went to America, it was highly predicted he would mention the affair. Bancroft obviously did not want this to be exposed. Thus, Bancroft kept himself safe from punishment and silenced Deane by murdering
(Doc. D). The case says that it would be difficult to sustain this proposition. Anna Hayes Johnson of South Carolina wrote to her cousin in North Carolina complaining about the “unhappy business which has filled with consternation all our city” and how nothing can save them. She writes that fifty to sixty percent of the leaders are in jail, and twenty of them have been convicted and sentenced. (Doc. G). The people living during this time period do not seem to think as highly of it as the people discussed in the previous paragraph did.
Robber barons, famously known for their ruthless means of acquiring wealth back in the late nineteenth century. They were awful. They were complete menaces to society and only ever created wealth for themselves. Or, at least that 's what is commonly taught in high school American history classes, but author Burton Folsom Jr. offers an unique alternative perspective in his book, The Myth of the Robber Barons. He provides a closer look at the results achieved by these infamous robber barons to give insight into what actually happened in the wake of these entrepreneurs’ conducted business. Folsom uses seven chapters on separate industries ran by robber barons to show, at least from an overall economic view, The United States experienced a gross net benefit by the existence of robber barons.
Despite the risks that one might have associated with his defense of a slave that had killed her master, regardless of the motives, Jameson appears to have made every effort to defend her to the best of his abilities. Even though Jameson appeared to be a good lawyer “according to those who knew him: as a lawyer [Jameson] was not profound” (McLaurin 85), so to aid Jameson in “labor and research” (McLaurin 85) Hall appointed two lawyers that were subordinate to Jameson. Now Jameson may not have been the best at trial research,but when it came to his courtroom skills “his contemporaries nevertheless admired him…” (McLaurin 85). Though not for his presentation, or his cross-examination skills, but for his “almost uncanny ability to read a jury” (McLaurin 85). Due to this skill of reading a jury many who knew him said he was “an excellent judge of men…” (McLaurin 85) which would have given him and advantage during Celia’s trial, unfortunately the prosecution in this case was (also/to) strong, led by Robert Prewitt, they virtually prevented Jameson from making any sort of case for the defense of Celia. Despite the fact that Jameson encountered some resistance from the “presiding judge whose consistent rulings to sustain the state’s objections revealed, if not his hostility toward the defendant, at least a desire for a perfunctory defense
This episode of American Greed presents the subtle yet very dangerous white collar criminals, whose tactics lead to financial losses with harrowing effects. The criminal in this particular case, Mr. Steven Palladino, manages an ice cream store in his neighborhood of West Roxbury and as such is a widely trusted man. The trust he obtains be founded from having been born and grown here as well as having his entire family as the mascots for his fraudulent enterprise. Having studied finance and finally making his way successfully through college to become a registered stock broker, he makes use of his social status to start in the pursuit of a Ponzi scheme under the appearance of Viking Financial. On the flip side, his investors seem to have unwavering trust in him despite the location of his office, a small
Tweed, or “Boss” Tweed, was to start a volunteer fireman in New York City and from then on his rise to power can only be described as meteoric. From this position he took it upon himself to be elected as the city alderman, and from this position ran for the US House of Representatives and won. These positions turned out to be benign and boring, he was only a Representative for one term, but while in these jobs he cultivated a relationship with Tammany Hall and when his term was up he had a prime position waiting for him. He was to become the sole proprietor of job, political jobs, in Tammany Hall. Not one to waste an opportunity William Tweed installed his own men into key positions of power and managed to control much of the New York City bureaucracy with his eponymous “Tweed Ring”. This ring of corruption lasted more than ten years as “Boss” Tweed and his cronies embezzled over 30 million dollars from New York City. This ring of fraud was ultimately left up for so long because it was so efficient and in another way, genius. Tweed managed to maintain his power by installing only his men into positions of political power, promising them not only influence but money. But with this new wealth comes the guarantee of loyalty to your political boss. In most men's eyes, this is a relatively small price to pay for the thousands of dollars to be made from the jobs he would give. But his regime was to end, in 1869, for a myriad of factors some including the political
They manipulated relief benefits so that poor whites were often denied payments and pushed out of the county so that they could keep in blacks who would work for starvation rates; they manipulated higher property taxes for blacks and lower taxes for themselves which resulted in the black community virtually paying for the entire school system; the decision to not sell life insurance to blacks was made by these men; and finally they held in their hands the decision of what was to be done to the men responsible for Armstrong Todd’s death (Campbell: 109). It is evident that the men belonging to the legacy of the Honorable Men of Hopewell were undoubtedly the most powerful body of all decisions made making them the power elite.
During that time Johnson was the general secretary of the NAACP, and knew what impact the case would have on civil rights. Given this the NAACP aided those accused of the murder of Breiner, and a first-rate defense team was in the making. Assistant secretary Walter White was the main assistant of NAACP to find the best attorneys (who were not prejudiced, of course). He later meets Arthur Garfield Hays and Clarence Darrow and urges them to take the case. After agreeing they meet their clients about a month after the accident. Boyle shows how both James Weldon Johnson and Clarence Darrow had interior motives for defending the Sweets. Both men had a love for the spotlight, when speaking about Darrow, Boyle writes "in the glare of a high-profile case he found the perfect opportunity to attack the status quo and proclaim the modernist creed." The trial itself felt more of a civil rights case than a criminal case. The most impressive thing in regards to the actual trial was the performance done by Darrow. One could draw many similarities between him and To Kill A Mockingbird’s Atticus Finch. A common misconception of the courtroom is that the jury goes strictly off of evidence when deliberating. This book clears up that false belief with the attorneys playing off of emotion and targeting pathos. A strong argument presented by Darrow can be summarized by a few statements he made in that courtroom. “You are facing a problem of two races, a problem that will take centuries to solve. If I felt none of you were prejudiced, I'd have no fear. I want you to be as unprejudiced as you can be. Draw upon your imagination and think how you would feel if you fired at some black man in a black community, and then had to be tried by
Spurred by increased responsibilities from marriage and the birth of his son, Tino turned his enterprising mind into overdrive, founding M&D Hog Cutters with borrowed money. Unlike the candy store, Tino’s new venture proved wildly successful. Incredibly, Tino had turned a $2000 investment into $100,000 in the very first year. Tino was only twenty-three years old, and his ego was even larger. He claimed he was “such a big shot that he was able to avoid the draft as he was such an important pork supplier to the army” and that he “prospered greatly during the war” Anthony claimed that increased wealth “didn’t change his personal life, but allowed him to further his charitable efforts.” For example, Tino started “giving away seeing-eye dogs and bicycles” (Miller 15). For Tino, his success during the war was not because of his patriotic efforts in supplying the army with pork. According to sources close to De Angelis at that time, Anthony’s hog cutting company prospered because it was built entirely on black market meat sales (Miller 16). Yet, Tino recounts his early wealth as patriotic and charity driven. It is internal narratives such as these that reinforce the rationalization for fraud.
Slave trade had been outlawed in the United States colonies for almost 30 years and in Spain for 19. Feeling something was wrong with the stories surrounding this vessel, Mr. Hollabird ordered a judicial hearing. The call for the hearing was not out of concern for the Africans, but, Mr. Hollabird, as a representative of the law, had to follow legal procedures of an investigation. The matter of murder, piracy, salvage rights and more sent this case to trial, and the Africans were placed in detainment under the custody of the US Marshall. The case appeared before Judge Andrew Judson.
Already, nearly seventy death warrants have been signed, and more will follow if you do not end this madness. At this rate, if the number of the accused continues, the whole town-no, the whole colony-will be facing the noose. Because of these trials, people have the chance to accuse others in revenge or to better themselves. Putnam has been accusing others to gain land, which he takes from the accused. However, Putnam’s status and wealth protects him from being accused. When these trials are over, the only people left will be greedy sinners and murderers. Murderers who knew the innocents they accused would likely be killed. As you are aware, the commandments tell us that we shall not murder. For the sake of our colony’s integrity, you must call these trials off before all the innocents are killed, and the people left living become a
The question before our society is not whether corporate crime is a victimless crime, rather the question is what should be done about it? Corporate crime doesn’t just do harm to the investors that can be unknowingly damaged by these crimes, it has a much more insidious nature to it as it has done harm on global scales. Corporate crime is almost a misnomer because many of these criminal wrongdoings are for the most part legal, when not taken to their ultimate conclusion. Society within the United States has been taught that the man in the brief case, yelling at other men in dark coats on the flow of the stock exchange are the smartest guys in the room. This paper will attack that idea on many levels, the first salvo will be
“Miller sees many people’s lives being poisoned by their desire to be successful. People like the Lomans are doomed to try for success but fail, with all the resulting guilt that such failure brings. Others like Ben and Howard display an ability to make money that deems them successful but at the cost of their own moral integrity.” (Abbotson, 317)