J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie were great inventors of their time but they did things that made them Robber Barons. One large reason why they are a robber baron is that they wanted to get more money without caring for anybody working for him or working with their companies. J.P. Morgan was criticized for manipulating the financial system in order to make more money for himself. J.P. Morgan made a successful bank that is one of the leading banks today, CHASE. John D. Rockefeller made his money by creating an oil business. In his business he treated his workers with long hours and very little pay so he could get more profit. Andrew Carnegie decreased his men's wages when they had no money to buy food when they were in a
Throughout the late 1800s, many people grew tremendously in wealth. Most people started businesses or expanded railroads which required a lot of money. This start the idea of robber barons or captains of industry; while there were some people who would collect the money for themselves there were many people who gave back and did some great things for America. Therefore, industrialists of the 1860s-1900s were more rightly called Captains of Industry than robber barons. John D. Rockefeller, James Fisk, and Henry Flanger are some great examples of Captains of Industry.
Robbers of Industry: Exploring Rockefeller's Case of This False Binary Looking at Google Search trend data shows that the person most associated with the term ‘robber baron’ is business tycoon John D. Rockefeller. Interestingly enough, however, is that the same is true for the term ‘captain of industry’ (Google Trends). To this day, the legacy of Gilded age business leaders like Rockefeller is conflicted, with people struggling to decide whether they were captains of industry, a robber barons, or both. Rockefeller's case, however, is most conflicting given the enormous impacts he had, both good and bad, by improving quality of life but decreasing competition in the industry.
Just like the treatment his workers endured Carnegie wasn't any nicer to his competitors. Andrew Carnegie was a phenomenal businessman. Much of his success is due to how he operated his business. He watched the costs of his business intently (Document C), always making sure that the steel was being produced at a lower price than what it was being sold for (Document D), and he watched his competitors even closer. In March 1889, when Allegheny Bessemer Steel built a mill directly across from Carnegie's mill it intimidated Carnegie.
Andrew Carnegie, a late 19th century steel magnate, was immensely successful during the Gilded Age. He kept wages low while eliminating competition, so that workers had no choice but to stay in Carnegie’s company. The Gilded Age is so called because the top appeared to be gold (i.e. the richest people were doing extremely well) but on the inside there were insurmountable wealth inequalities (I.e the rich succeeded at the expense of the rest of the nation). Andrew Carnegie was a large causer of wealth inequality . In his “Gospel of Wealth” he justifies the trend by stating that in an ideal world the rich would give to the poor, but unfortunately our world is impossible.
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.
Revolution: “the usually violent attempt by many people to end the rule of one government and start a new one” (Merriam-Webster). In the late 1770’s and early 1780’s, the British colonies in North America made the decision to rebel and cut all ties with their British government. In the war that happened due to this decision, the Revolutionary War, the colonies were able to beat the British government and declare their independence because of many heroes and leaders. Three of these heroes and leaders were Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, and George Washington.
Carnegie was involved in a highly competitive business. Does this excuse him (and others) for their treatment of workers? As told Carnegie grew up poor and then was forced to work unbearable hours and six days a week for little pay. “In 1849, at the age of 14, Ohio Telegraph Company hired Andrew as a telegraph messenger for $2.50 per week. With roaring ambition and an unbelievable work ethic propelling him, Carnegie taught himself the language of the telegraph and within a year became the operator.
The captains of industry believed that the poor people were inferior to the rich people. The rich were superior because they had “wisdom, experience, and the ability to administer”. The duty of a rich person was to help out a poor person which was what was said in the Gospel of Wealth. The Gospel of Wealth is about how the rich person's responsibility is philanthropy. Carnegie believes in charity work so he would donate to libraries, and universities and schools and etc.
Bill Gates was a wealthy man who might have been greedy and only in for the money. He was also a generous man who employed a lot of people and donated $40 million. Most revered critics believe that Cornelius Vanderbilt was a Robber Baron. For example, he was never known to engage in philanthropic activities
Carnegie was considered a Robber Baron for many reasons. For example, he gained huge profits because of his workers low wages. In the excerpt, “Who was Andrew Carnegie,” the author said, “his steel workers were often pushed to long hours and low wages.” Workers worked in harsh conditions and received no benefits causing them to live in poverty with scarce food, clothing, and shelter. Workers were tired of the low wages and decided to go on strike.
Carnegie’s views on the treatment of his workers are one of the things that he did that are considered unethical. For instance, during America’s depression in the early 1800’s, Carnegie’s workers were repeatedly asked to work long hours for little play; many unions resisted, particularly in the Homestead Strike of 1892. In the Homestead Strike, workers were angry about pay cuts and Carnegie’s
When it comes to the terms “Robber Barons” or “Captains of Industry” an automatic focus brings and individual to three key historical figures including Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie. Whether or not an individual agrees with the given terms jointly or feels stronger about one way or the other, there is plenty of information to support either side or both sides simultaneously. I feel that as time has gone on from the 19th century to present day the roles have changed from “Robber Barons” to “Captains of Industry” with the continued progression of everyday living. The “Robber Barons” began with Vanderbilt, an aggressive, rude, competitive steamboat owner/operator turned railroad owner. He was known in the steamboat
Andrew Carnegie is a steel plant owner who claims to support unions and the working man. His charge is that he ignored the legitimate grievances of his employees at his plant in Homestead Pennsylvania and that his neglect contributed to the death of several of his employees during a strike at Homestead in June of 1892 and that he should be held accountable. Andrew Carnegie has dealt with strikes at his plants before. One strike was at his plant in Braddock Pennsylvania where he settled with the workers by agreeing to higher pay but without input from the Union, essentially ruining it. The union at Homestead was one of the last unions in any of his plants.
John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were abundantly similar when it came to traits that made them sucessful in business endeavors. They both rose from extreme povery and disadvantage as children. Limitations did not exist when it came to their inner core of ruthlessness exhibited at times against their competitors and even their employees. They took complete control of every detail of their business and ran it with a prerogative to control a large part of the American economy.
Robber barons, specifically Andrew Carnegie, an industrialist and John D. Rockefeller, a philanthropist, were the chosen, elite members of society according to the doctrine of Social Darwinism. Darwinism is when evolution occurs and the strongest organisms of an ecosystem survive and reproduce to outnumber the weaker, less fit organisms of an ecosystem. Similarly Social Darwinism follows the same concept, but in a capitalist sense of thought. Those who were able to exploit the Gilded Age’s laissez faire economy to their own benefit, like the robber barons Andrew Carnegie of Carnegie Steel and J. D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil, were the fittest members of society because they were able to survive in the grueling and ruthless free economy. By usurping all of the fresh yet unfit immigrants that were flowing into the States due to the rise of urbanization, these two men integrated these easily-manipulated people into their factories to augment their profits.