Robber Barons Or Captains Of Industry

In a book published in 1991 by Burt Folsom, The Myth of the Robber Barons is essentially a book about two theories competing against one another, which is the political versus the market entrepreneurs. The book adamantly persuades the reader into believing market entrepreneurship has provided Americans with greater results versus political entrepreneurs featuring from real life scenarios to back up Mr. Folsom claims. He pointed out several market entrepreneurs in his book such as J.D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, James Hill and Charles Schwab as ones who helped changed the economic climate for Americans by providing superior and lower-cost products and/or services than its competitors. Mr. Folsom continued to shine light on several political

A Review of The Myth of the Robber Barons a book by Burton Folsom JR.

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.

Cornelius Vanderbilt was a steamship tycoon with a large fleet; who was known as the Commodore, during that time in history the highest rank in our nation's navy was a Commodore. Vanderbilt wanted the Pacific Company to pay him a toll on all business done in America with California.

The Gilded age was a time of deception and industry. Many businesses tried to make it to the top but most failed. Very few went on to become a huge success, such as Carnegie’s steel production. Being a captain of industry is a big importance, and even though people may not like your methods, they work for you and your business.

From the years 1878 to 1889, America was in a period of time known as the Gilded Age. The term “Gilded Age” was coined by the prolific American novelist Mark Twain due to the growth of industry and the way wealth was amassed by corporate magnates such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. During the Gilded Age, the large petroleum corporations of John Rockefeller, for example, created monopolies on oil. These tycoons would also create trusts in which they would give an opportunity for stockholders in competing companies to sell their stock in exchange for stock certificates. These trusts would give the larger corporations the upper-hand in commerce and forced Americans to buy its products exclusively. Moreover, during the Gilded Age,

Were the American business giants of the gilded age captains of industry or robber barons? I believe the majority of the business giants were captains of industry, but some were robber barons.

Good morning to my fellow American citizens and colleagues. I, Andrew Carnegie have decided, after much deliberation, to address my status as a “robber baron”. To truly understand my reasoning on this issue, we must first discuss how I rose to my current status, and what hardships I faced along the way.

One of the entrepreneurs of this time was Cornelius Vanderbilt. This man had a reputation for being a horrible employer and was greedy with his profits. He treated his workers awfully. The employees who worked for Vanderbilt had terrible working hours, work areas, and pay. Almost all of the money his companies made went straight to Vanderbilt. Once when Vanderbilt wanted to take over another man’s business, after the man had died, Vanderbilt ran the business (now ran by the son) down by lowering his company's costs and was very pushy with his marketing. These steps led the business to be forced into selling their business to Vanderbilt. Another thing that made this man unlikeable was his lack of charity and giving. In his lifetime, Vanderbilt only donated money to a church and a college. He also donated one of his ships to the United States navy. Vanderbilt was a poor employer and was wrapped up in his riches.

Supplemental packet 1. Robber barons’ activities make people to get large fortunes in short-time and monopolize the market. It can promote economic development. It can get permit and subsidy form government. The cost is to pay large amount of money to government officials.

The rise of big business began right after the Civil War and during the Industrial Revolution. These businesses would monopolize their competition and exploit others for their sake. The Captains of Industry at the time of the Gilded Age were characterized as “robber barons” who were willing to do anything for wealth and power. The term robber baron means a person who has become rich through ruthless and corrupt business tactics. These robber barons used extreme methods to control and concentrate their wealth and power by lacking morals, using intimidation, bribery, fraud and by being blinded by the fact that what they are doing is for the greater good.

In progress and poverty by Henry George the ever widening gap between the rich and poor is acknowledged. “The wealthy class is becoming more wealthy; but the poorer class is becoming more dependent” (Doc A). His writing displays the unfairness that was associated with wealthy industrialists. A small portion of wealthy businessmen were controlling all of America. This unfairness is further shown in the political cartoon The Robber Barons of Today. This cartoon published by the Granger collection highlights the plight of the poor laborers at the mercy of wealthy industrialists who control trusts and monopolize the public. The cartoon stresses its point as the workers desperately hand over bags to the industrialists that say taxes, wages, and

     True, Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller may have been the most influential businessmen of the 19th century, but was the way they conducted business proper? To fully answer this question, we must look at the following: First understand how Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller changed the market of their industries. Second, look at the similarities and differences in how both men achieved domination. Third and lastly, Look at how both men treated their workers and customers in order achieve the most possible profit for their company.

In the early nineteenth century the USA was very corrupt. It was a time were monopolistic businesses thrived, and small ones failed. In this time was when J.P. Morgan became the man controlling the most money in the world and ended up owning at his peak, forty companies. In the early nineteenth century J.P Morgan was both a Captain of industry and a Robber Baron.

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?