What Were The Robber Barons Of The Emerging Growth Of America?

In the late 19th century, the United States of America was growing rapidly, especially with the rise of industrial businesses and corporations. Some of the most popular figures that contributed to this growth were John D. RockRockefeller, Henry Ford, JP Morgan and Andrew Carnegie. These multi-millionaire tycoons gained wealth and fame during the “Gilded Age” by contributing to industrialization and the improvement of America as a whole. Although these individuals, and many more are typically known for their support and creation of the industrial revolution, were they “Robber Barons” or were they productive managers of the emerging growth of America?

The term “Robber Baron” is defined as “a person who has become rich through ruthless and unscrupulous practices” according to The Oxford dictionary. I think that the definition above describes most of the individuals during the “Gilded Age”. These individuals often engrossed in environments that could potentially be harmful to workers, worked employees long hours where it could potentially be considered dangerous, paid their employees low wages, and often used their wealth and fame in order to take control of certain markets and businesses.

Rockefeller was the founder of Standard Oil, and helped revolutionize the gas and oil industry while Henry Ford revolutionized the factory setting and the assembly line. While JP Morgan was primarily a businessman, he revolutionized the basic business, and became a huge supporting cast for the railroad industry. Finally, Andrew Carnegie innovated the steel production industry, and made steel production and transportation thrive throughout the country. The individuals mentioned above are only a fraction of the many different people that thrived and helped develop America during the Gilded Age”. These famous, or infamous industrialization tycoons thrived during the late 19th century, and created many of the businesses and operations that we know