The Industrial Revolution, also known as the Gilded Age, dramatically emerged from the rubble of the Civil War. Small businesses began growing and soon the nation’s economy was led by a few intensely powerful individuals. Because of them, the United States had evolved to become the largest industrial nation in the world. These captains of industry boosted America’s economy, improved the efficiency of life, and gave back to others in society. The tycoons of the nation were one of the many reasons that America obtained such a strong economy. This is despite those who thought they achieved such success in cruel ways. According to a USHistory.org article, “as a result of improved transportation all Americans had access to more goods at a cheaper …show more content…
Business people took notice and jumped at the opportunity. As reported by USHistory.org following the Civil War, “George Westinghouse invented the air brake and trains could stop more reliably as a result. Railroad firms agreed on a standard width between tracks to reduce transfers. The Pullman Car Company produced sleeper cars and dining cars to make travel more comfortable” (36a). Air brakes provided the safety that locomotives lacked immensely. The sleeper and dining cars kept passengers away from the wood burner and the sparks it exuded. Other problems besides safety were addressed. Many different railroad companies had contrasting widths between tracks. In order to advance productivity, a consensus was attained. The Gilded Age proved itself to be not entirely atrocious. Captains of industry established their beneficialness to the American economy, citizens, and daily life. Anyone could contribute as long as they had the drive. Multitudes of people will say that such men were robber barons for refusing to settle for being a half-millionaire. Although it is true that many employees were not paid adequately, they happened to be contributing to America’s success. The question will forever remain on whether these industrialists were robber barons or captains of
American businessmen, of the 1800’s, built America to be one of the greatest superpowers in the world. To start, businessmen of the 1800s consisted of men like John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie. Some of these men were split by how they got their money; Captains of Industry and Robber Barons. Captains of Industry were business leaders that helped the nation in a positive way. On the other hand, Robber Barons were men that shrewd capitalists, swindled the poor and benefitted for themselves.
Before the 1860s U.S. railroads were inefficient for big business to explode, and shipping goods wasn’t as easy before Cornelius Vanderbilt organized a steam ship company. He also controlled all lines of railroad linking New York to the Great Lakes. His strategy was to create a monopoly to gain wealth and power of all the effective railroad lines into one major company. He expressed competition and set unfair prices for the workers. The workers soon revolted and went on strike in 1877 due to the low pay and increase of work hours.
The Men who Built America impacted the lifestyle of many Average Americans. These men were great, but also not so great. There were Rubber Barons and Captains of Industry in this time. A Captain of Industry is someone who’s fortune positively impacted the lives of those around them. On the the hand, a Robber Baron was a person who has a big fortune by using selfish behavior and using others to grow their riches.
Robber Baron or Captain of Industry? This is the ultimate question. There are several major business leaders that were very successful is the late 19th Century. One of the successful leaders is J. Pierpont Morgan. Many people around the United States view J. Pierpont Morgan differently and think about him in different ways.
Andrew Carnegie made his workers work longer days, but cut their wages at the same time. His workers then worked 12 hour work days, 6 days a week. Another business leader was John Rockefeller, he could be considered a robber baron because of the tactic he used to make
During the time period of 1860 to 1918, numerous new inventions and innovations were introduced into the modern world. Inventions such as typewriters, telephones, electric light bulbs, and radios became essential to the lives of people throughout the industrial world. Additional inventions in the transportation sector, including cars, airplanes, and trains, were developing quickly. Trains especially were viewed as exceedingly influential because they provided useful advantages for present and future generations, notwithstanding the fact that many people were opposed to the formation of such railroads. People were able to appreciate the immediate benefits railroads had to offer along with the long-term advantages for future generations.
There had to be a way to keep the industry growing, with the needs for education, as well as materials for farming and for the use of new inventions in technology. The captains of industry were very capable in providing for these needs. In Document C, Wealth, Andrew Carnegie describes what the man of wealth was responsible for: “To produce the most beneficial results for the community- Bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves.” The conditions of the lower class at the time gave these men a leading role for priorities, which they were successful with.
Robber Barons and Captains of Industry Some might believe that the businessmen of the Gilded age are robber barons because of how some of them treated their workers and spent their money. The businessmen of the Gilded Age were captains of industry because of the impact that they made on the country. Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, and Vanderbilt all have done things that can identify them as captains of industry. These businessmen gave their time and effort to help the economy grow.
In a time after the Civil War, the national government encouraged production which improved their financing by switching to the gold standard, improved communication by boosting the telegraph, improved transportation by building railroads. The economy was also improving massively also due to natural resources, demography, and law. Railroads allowed people as well as supplies to be transported quicker, safer, and cheaper. Companies started taking advantage of the demand for building materials, they bought each other out through vertical and horizontal integration, formed monopolies which made the price go up, and made the owners very wealthy. Aside from all of these positives, there are also various problems that were caused during the Gilded
After the Civil War, the Second Industrial Revolution was established due to America’s rapid growth for industry and economics. Capitalists during the industrial period of 1875-1900’s were either accused of being a robber baron or a captain of industry. Some capitalists leaders who were accused of being a robber baron or captain of industry included J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew W. Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller. A robber baron is a business leader who gets rich through cruel and scandalous business practices. The captains of industry is a business leader who wants to better the companies in a way that it would be positively contributing to the country.
Before the Gilded Age, transportation of any sort was slow, unreliable, and unavailable. However, with the invention of the assembly line and some invention, mass produced automobiles, subterranean trains, elevated trains and basic airplanes were spread out. Therefore, during the late 19th century, transportation was allowing for extreme expanse of trade and economic capability. One of the most prominent methods of transportation even before this time, railways were experiencing a major change during this time. Though it would eventually cause a stock market crash due to the closure of two major rail businesses, the roads themselves saw considerably more traffic due to a major expansion of the system.
In the past, there have been many influential economic figures in the industrial business industry. Andrew Carnegie is one of the most famous of these figures but not just in a business scheme, but also in an economic and national scheme. Andrew Carnegie is a business man that caused a major controversial issue to arise; the topic of being labeled a Robber Baron or a Captain of Industry by the public. A Robber Baron is someone who has become wealthy through heartless and unethical business actions that will only benefit the individual. On the other hand, a Captain of Industry is a business leader who has become rich by accomplishing activities that will, overall, benefit the people of the community such as expanding a market or providing more jobs.
Although many citizens viewed capitalists as “Captains of Industry,” they can also, just as easily, be seen as “Robber Barons.” Even though railroads were beneficial to society, they were not without corruption, as shown by the Credit Mobilier scandal. This was a railroad company that paid itself huge sums of money for small railroad construction. In fact, it received twenty-three million dollars in profit. Moreover, the railroad industry could be seen as completely insincere and dishonest because of its monopoles.
With the advent of the railroad, many of these issues disappeared. Railroads had a major impact on advancing the American economy, transforming America into a modern society, and improving an antiquated transportation system. The building of railroads created rapid economic growth in America. Railroad companies employed more than one million workers to build and maintain railroads. At the same time, coal, timber, and steel industries employed thousands of workers to provide the supplies necessary to build railroads (Chapter 12 Industrialization).
The time period from when the Second Industrial Revolution was beginning, up until President McKinley’s assassination in 1901, is known as the Gilded Age. After the Civil War, many people headed out West to pursue agriculture, and many immigrants moved to urban areas to acquire jobs in industrial factories. It is in this context that farmers and industrial workers had to respond to industrialization. Two significant ways farmers and industrial workers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age, were creating the Populist Party and the American Federation of Labor (AFL).