John D. Rockefeller's Robber Barons

In the Progressive Era, there were many problems that the American people faced. America was broken, unjust, and cruel during that era. The people became acocomuomed to the corruption, horrible living conditions,and terrible working and safety conditions. The vast number of problems; however, were solved by what we call-- muckrakers, who then with the help of others came to bring about a new laws.

John D. Rockefeller was a very interesting and independant man. He left a legacy in the everyday american life and in the oil industry. John D. Rockefeller went down a tough road to becoming successful, he had a few but some very important occupations, and he rarely had mentors. John Davison Rockefeller had a tremendous hard time becoming successful. To start off,when he was a kid,”John’s father had left for a young canadian girl leaving him without a father”(John Davison Rockefeller).He had to do everything he accomplished without a father figure so it was hard for him being a kid.

The rapid industrialization of the United States brought many changes to its people. New technologies, inventions, and the railroad brought better fuels, stronger steels, changed the way people lit their homes, and even changed the way people did their shopping. The integrated railroad was especially exciting, because it would allow people to move from the west coast to the east coast as they pleased. Economic development was also on the rise, especially in the west. Americans were excited to discover and tame the “wild west”, eager to claim a piece of land that they could call their own.

Over a century after his death, Stanford’s name lives vividly in international consciousness as one of the most prestigious universities in the United States. However, before he and his wife, Jane, created Leland Stanford Jr. University, his origins begin quite differently: as an adventurous capitalist and politician who made California his stomping grounds over the course of several decades. Stanford experimented with various industries and enjoyed great wealth as one of the major robber barons of the late 19th century. Although Leland Stanford may have achieved his wealth through morally questionable ways, his legacy lives on through what is now called Stanford University, erected in memory of his deceased son.

During the late 1800s there was a time period called the “Gilded Age”. The Gilded Age is a time period the economy was struggling along with the people of the era. Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and Thomas Edison were some examples of successful business owners and Robber Barons of that time. Robber Barons were the people who stole money from the public along with natural resources such as soil, land, etc. These men were supposed to be great leaders, but instead they enforce horrible working conditions.

The Gilded Age was a period after the Civil War, between the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, the United States went through a period of economical, political and social growth. However, Corruption was common throughout the Gilded Age and greatly affected the United States of America. Railroad Corruption, such as Credit Mobilier, a railroad construction company for the Union Pacific RailRoad that overcharged the public for construction costs, Political Corruption that was based around various scandals as well as Patronage, were all forms of corruption that took place throughout the Gilded Age. Union Pacific Railroad stockholders formed a company known as the Credit Mobilier of America.

While in "Gilded Age", all levels of government had corruption, graft public money for their own. One of the most notorious New York City Boss Tweed William M. Tweed, his wealth has more than $25 million in 1871, all was dirty money. During the period he served as mayor of New York, the city requires all public officials to report false, false ratio as high as 85%. He presided over the construction of the New York county government office buildings, 40 chairs and 3 tables then discount about $179000, but a thermometer was quoted $7500. According to statistics, in 1860 ~ 1900, American municipal debt by $200 million soared to $1.4 billion, most of them are the City boss and partisans pocketed.

The Gilded Age is defined as the time between the post-Reconstruction era and World War 1 in which the U.S population and economy grew quickly, however, there was a lot of political corruption and corporate financial misleadings. The reforms of the Progressive Era resolved many of the alleged problems during the Gilded Age such as unethical business practices, tainted food supply and poor and unsafe conditions for factory workers. During the Gilded Age, captains of industries like John D. Rockefeller supposedly used “unethical” business practices. They cooperated with other companies like the Railroad Companies which allowed them to transport their products around the country at a lower price compared to other companies consequently selling

The Gilded Age is a figurative label of the 1870 to 1890 era dubbed from Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner’s novel (GML 615). The label attempts to address the deceivingly lustrous view of America that concealed the rampant corruption, oppressive treatment and gaping inequality experienced during the era. The luster derived from rapid industrial growth that came to be known as the ‘Second Industrial Revolution’. By 1880, the number of railroad trucks in the U.S had tripled. This facilitated expansion of mining and agricultural commerce and paved the way for a national market for manufactures commodities.

George Eastman, J.P. Morgan, and Andrew Carnegie were Captains of Industry. They were all Captains of Industry because they were all leaders in their own industry. George Eastman was the leader of the film industry. Eastman created the well known Eastman Kodak film company. Eastman developed film and a small, affordable camera that the average person could afford.

The Robber Barons’ Climb to Success The Robber Barons came out of the 1850’s when the people of America were torn on what values their country ought to entertain. With the Civil War on the brink of erupting the country became divided over what their future should be. A few select men took advantage of this time of ambiguity and confusion to make a profit.

Immigrants face a great deal of hardship on coming to America. Many of these immigrants were on uneducated and fell into the trap of Robber Barons. During the Great Migration (1880-1921) about 56% of the immigrants migrated to the United States not knowing what to expect. Therefore, when coming to America many of the defenseless immigrants had to pay a price. “The shipping industry guarantee good profit, but they had to send their children which caused their family to be separated, this was because these immigrants did not have enough money to have them and their children going together” ( Morgan Prezi).

This investigation will scrutinize the question: To what extent did antitrust laws affect John D. Rockefeller’s company- Standard Oil? To analyze the effectiveness of the antitrust laws, the investigation will focus on the government policies and execution of said policies during the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era (1870-1920). The first source is a cartoon drawn by Horace Taylor for the September 25, 1899 issue of The Verdict named “What a Funny Little Government”. By 1890, Standard Oil dominated 90 percent of the oil industry, thus the publication date strengthens the value of the cartoon itself, since the close proximity enables for the cartoon to capture the perception of the cartoonist as well as the general public.

Captains of Industry or Robber Barons? Mr. George Pullman was considered one of the worst robber barons of the 19th century. He manipulated his workers to do everything for him and strived for success. George Pullman was the third of ten children born to James and Emily Pullman. His family had relocated to Albion, New York, in 1845 so his father could work on the Erie Canal.