The Captains of Industry were certainly one of the most important factors in the development of United States in the period directly after the Civil War. While there is some merit to the argument that the industrial leaders were Robber Barons that did more harm than good, their contributions to American society clearly outweigh those negatives. The Captains of Industry quite literally revolutionized the American way of life that gave the U.S. the highest standard of living in the world prior to the outbreak of World War I. This was made possible due to the emergence of corporations in areas such as finance, steel, oil, and railroads. When these men combined with other factors, such as the mechanization of agriculture, immigration, migration, …show more content…
Even the negative side effects of their actions led to long term benefits for many. The creation of monopolies led to government intervention in business on behalf of fair competition. The exploitation of workers led to regulations guaranteeing safety codes, minimum wage, abolition of child labor, and the rise of unions. While they did not intend for these things to occur, they are still byproducts of their efforts to build American industry. They set up the country to become, financially speaking, the largest beneficiary of World War I as the U.S. supplied much of the material used to fight the conflict. It transformed the United States from a debtor nation into the world’s largest lender in a few years. Looking back, the development of the U.S. after the Civil War was inevitable, but the course that it took to get there was not. The Captains of Industry revolutionized their chosen industry and created an economically strong nation that was capable of meeting the challenges of the next century. Were it not for these men, history would have turned out very different for the United
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Show MoreAlthough 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.
After the Civil War, the United States had two distinct economies, which is quite significant. The Southern economy was completely damaged by the results of the Civil War. Southerners were forced to readjust their entire economy, because slaves needed to be liberated, leaving slave-owners with no workforce. Meanwhile, in the North, the need to supply Union armies with particularly daily supplies marked the start of an era of industrial development. Which giant corporations essentially emerged known as Big Business.
“Much of the blame heaped on the captains of industry in the late 19th century is unwarranted.” (Document F). The Gilded Age was a time where the U.S. economy grew very quickly and rapidly, due to the inventive minds and entrepreneurs of that time; but it has different perspectives of opinions in history today. This era led the U.S. to its state and place in the present world, thanks to its important contributors, (who are involved in the main debate of whether they were robber barons, unethical men who yearn for money, or captains of industry, leaders who add positive ideas and methods to benefit their country.) The industrial leaders of the Gilded Age are captains of industry, worthy of some gratitude and credit for how our society’s structure
Transportation meant more interactions of people and information, but often had devastating effects due to the human folly of wanting to decrease time. Women in the work force increased the production rate, as well as a boom in the economy, but were often treated in inhumane conditions and regarded lowly. Banks allowed vast opportunities for the wealthy investors, but also ended up disabling the poor working force, especially in the depression. As such, while there were evident benefits to the market revolution that heavily boosted the economy and development of the country, the drawbacks still outweighed the positives. Death and people taking advantages of others led to the market revolution being a dark time in American history.
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.
Thesis : After the Civil War, America was in a post-war boom. During the 1870-1890, big business moguls, such as Rockefeller and Carnegie, create huge corporations which not only affected the economy, but also affected the political realm of America. While many may assume that during the rise of these big business helped to change the economy and politics, the real focus was on the responses formed by society, such as labor unions, increase public outcry, and political opposition groups that helped to change society. A: Economically, big business flourished during the late 1800s.
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.
Between the year of 1865 and the year of 1920, the United States moved towards becoming a more industrialized and developing society. With this change taking place, resulted in improvement with how people live with family and earned money differently. The three major aspects of industrialization during the 1865 and 1920 that influenced the politics, economy and society of the United States are: entrepreneurship, technology, as well as transport and communication network. Entrepreneurship: the period after the Civil War from 1865 to 1920 was characterized by fast economic growth in the country.
The United States began to enter a prosperous and increasing period after the civil war known as industrialization. Despite the fact that industrialization led the United States to wealth, it also led it to many social and economic problems during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this time, Upton Sinclair and Andrew Carnegie were the people who responded to the economic and social problems generated by industrialization. Andrew Carnegie was one of the wealthy men in America and was very charitable, he impacted the United States with his steel to transform cities. During these economic and social problems generated by industrialization, he responded by providing money to fund charities.
The invention of the cotton gin decreased labor and increased the production of usable cotton and the demand for items being made from it. Advancements being made in both water and land transportation led to explosive growth in cities and factories; thus improving the national economy little by little. All in all, the revolution taking place in the Americas after the war of 1812 turned the nation into the successful, worldwide marketplace we know of
Industrialization and Industrialists had many important impacts on America. The era of industrialization known as the " Gilded Age" opened up many new doors for the American people. The industrialist Andrew Carnegie had one of the biggest impacts on America by far. Carnegie was responsible for the production of steel.
There are so many views when considering the industrialists of late 19th century to be captains of industry while others consider them as Robber barons because they like practicing a system called the monopoly. Monopoly . they built huge companies and practice unfair businesses; which make them drive their counterparts out of business; and when they do such things, they are stealing businesses from competitors. Most people refer to them as the king of the American industries during the 19th century. Some viewed them as greedy, unprincipled and corrupt.
Environmental damage, exploitation of workers, and overpopulation in cities are all negative effects of American Industrialization. American Industrialization had many effects come out of it, both positive effects and negative effects. The positive effects of Industrialization are that it made work cheaper, employed thousands of workers, and improved people’s daily lives.
The period after the civil war saw the United States of America economy transform to become a national economy and an industrial giant. The already existing industries quickly expanded and new ones emerged including steel manufacturing, electrical power, and petroleum refining. This period saw the rapid expansion of the railroad network which would subsequently connect even the remote parts of the country into the national economic grid essentially transforming the regional markets into a national economy. Following the economic expansion, the American society was greatly transformed creating a new crop of wealthy individuals and a dynamic middle class. Additionally, there was a vast expansion of blue collar job opportunities which quickly
Industrialization after the Civil War One of the most remarkable consequences of the Civil war was the industrialization of the United States, which transformed the economy of the country. While certain industries, such as textiles and clock making saw industrialization during the first half of the nineteenth century, it was not until the Civil War that industrialization spread throughout America. The Civil War spurred the process of industrialization and encourages new production techniques that would have the greatest impact after the end of the war. Some of the significant reasons for the delay of industrialization of America after the Civil War were social, economic, political, geographic and legal reasons. The industrialization affected various groups of the society belonging to distinct races and ethnic backgrounds.