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Industrial Revolution: Captains Of Industry

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During the Industrial Revolution many business leaders were very successful. American people at the time were controversial as to if these Big Businessmen were robber barons or captains of industry. This dispute even continues into present time. Business men should be considered captains of industry. A captain of industry is defined as “a business leader whose means of amassing personal fortune contributes positively to the country in some way.” Furthermore, a business leader who increased productivity, expanded markets, provided more jobs, or showed acts of philanthropy were considered captains of industry. One example is John D. Rockefeller who combined his many oil corporations that he already owned into the Standard Oil Trust. Creating the Standard Oil Trust made Rockefeller’s products cheaper for the public, it provided many jobs to workmen and it “paid the best wages,” according to Document 2. While pursuing the gain of wealth, Rockefeller positively helped the country grow. Another example of a captain of industry was Andrew Carnegie. He controlled all phases of the steel industry by using vertical integration and turned all his businesses into the Carnegie Steel Company. Monopolizing the steel industry allowed …show more content…

They believed trusts and monopolies eliminated competition which wasn’t fair to smaller business owners. However, using trusts and monopolies granted a business leader to gain control of a larger area. Competition ruined businesses and it took away people’s jobs because they were always going against each other. Losing small businesses was a small price to pay for the large growth of America during this time. Having control of a larger area allowed new jobs to from, reduction of goods prices, and it built up the economy. This was very beneficial to the American people proving that they were captains of

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