Robber Barons Book Report

The robber barons however were living in what you’d call “luxury”. It didn’t matter to them what these people were going through. All they cared about was the income they were “earning”. Robber barons were extremely common among the industrial industry.

The Robber Barons, a novel written by Matthew Josephson, supports Standiford’s claim that Frick and Carnegie were giant American industrialists who held economic power, however, in The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America written by Burton W. Folsom expresses that majority of Robber Barons were actually political entrepreneurs, not economic

The Scottish-born American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie was one of the first captains of industry Leader of the American steel industry from 1873 to 1901, he disposed of his great fortune by endowing educational, cultural, scientific, and technological institutions. Andrew Carnegie made those characteristics of business enterprise and innovation that changed the United States from an agricultural and commercial nation to the greatest industrial nation in the world in a single generation between 1865 and 1901. The era has sometimes been called the age of robber barons. The entrepreneurs of the period not only built and modernized industry, but because they were technologically minded, they increased the productivity of

Although 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.

The Gilded Age was a time of American economic prowess thanks in large part to the influence of a few tycoons. However, some believe these tycoons were not the so-called “Titans of Industry,” but rather “Robber Barons.” J.P. Morgan, for example, is erroneously considered to be the latter due to his expansive sphere of influence. Nevertheless, J.P. Morgan is truly a “Titan of Industry.” On April 17, 1837, J.P. Morgan was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to parents Junius Spencer Morgan and Juliet Pierpont (Wepman 1).

The American Industrial Revolution was prompted mostly by the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812. Stephen Yafa was the author of “Camelot on the Merrimack.” The word “Camelot” is unusual because of the situations of the mill girls’ working hours, low pay, and working conditions. “Camelot” is usually thought of a prefect, beautiful time, place, and situation, like a fairy tale.

McNeill was one of the very first people to understand the true danger of these trusts, he realized that these companies were just as powerful as the government and how they can bend their will to make anything happen “The monopolists seek to overcome their competitors and make them servitors to their will.” (McNeill, 1896) McNeill was more of a radical speaker then his fellow peers and had this belief that the wealthy were against the poor and were the real leaders of America “the plutocracy and aristocracy of wealth shall commit the final overt act in their conspiracy against liberty.” (McNeill, 1896) The fact that this ideal was in McNeill’s mind just shows the hatred between the two groups. McNeill died in 1906 and his work was greatly appreciated by his

The years of American industrialism brought rapid change to American’s way of life. The Industrial Revolution brought technological advances to America that greatly increased the rate goods could be produced. The

The industrial revolution completely changed America as we know it. It brought many changes to our nation- some good and some bad. The Industrial Revolution changed how we produce and consume goods. It was so groundbreaking that we still feel the effects today. Prominent inventions of the time are pictured in document 3.

The Market Revolution generated a drastic change in the United States economy and altered gender barriers while at the same time accomplishing this in a provocative manner. This economic boom occurred around the first half of the 19th Century. The economic boom was achieved by inventions such as a transcontinental railroad system which resulted in a better transportation system which improved trade and the cotton gin which sped up the rate of removing seeds from cotton fiber. However like what the great Hugo said, “The brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over we realize this: that the human race has been roughly handled, but that it has advanced”.

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.

Was John D. Rockefeller a robber baron? I’d say so. Through ruthless business tactics and exploitation of workers, he made a fortune in his lifetime. In this paper, I’m going to be talking about said business tactics and exploitation. If you believe Rockefeller was just a good business man who donated to the poor, I hope your view will be changed by the end.

In 1869, Jay Gould and Jim Fish bribed the U.S. Treasury into cornering the gold market, by stopping the gold circulation. This led to a rise in the prices of Gould and Fish’s hoarded gold (Hook Exercise). Also, John D. Rockefeller used spies and blackmail to get railroads to work in his favor and shut the competition out (Hook Exercise). These examples prove that the manipulation and bribery the businessmen resorted to worked in their favor and helped them maintain and build their empires, but also helped them to control their

Howard Zinn’s unique perspective on American history and the beloved American heroes makes for an interesting story. His book, A People's History of the United States, paints history in a whole new light. While most teachers tell the story of the huge period of wealth and industrialization, the side that Zinn shows in the 11th chapter of his book “Robber Barons and Rebels”, tells of the poor being taken advantage of while the rich prospered in the late 1800 and early 1900s. He also uses other like-minded historians like Brandeis and Commons and historical events such as the Sherman Anti-Trust act, the murders in Rock Springs, technological advances like the Bessemer process to support his claims. These claims are that the industrial and political

He rightly identified that money - both its presence and its absence - does something to people” (1). These ideals reflect what can be seen in all of his literary