As our country reached the late 1800’s, Americans found themselves face to face with era known as the ‘Gilded Age’. Companies were created and grew rapidly during this time period. Some of the most famous entrepreneurs were John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, who seemed to be the perfect models for the ‘rags to riches’ story. Many people debate which entrepreneur was a better role-model. Due to his low prices, the high demand for his products, and the way he sought to eliminate any possible competition, John D. Rockefeller is clearly the better role-model for today’s entrepreneurs.
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.
When Cornelius Vanderbilt died he left his $100 million fortune to his son William Vanderbilt and they both had the same attitude. During the Gilded Age these big business and their owners were thought of as being Robber Barons or Captains of Industry. The poor working conditions that were provided, the corruption they led in government, and their use of child labor shows that they were Robber Barons. Children were used in labor to work a lot and most days of the week. Kids as young as 5 often worked as much as 12 to 14 hours a day for barely any pay.
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.
Was Cornelius Vanderbilt a Robber Baron or Captain of Industry? A cruel businessman or an industrious leader? Henry J. Raymond believed that Vanderbilt was “a monopolist that crushed other competitors”(T.J Stiles). While he is also deemed one of America’s leading businessmen, and is also credited for helping shape the United States. His fortunes were made unfairly in some cases but his million dollar contribution to the Navy was very generous.
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.
The first concept is lucky opportunities. In the book Outliers Gladwell explains how many successful people receive luckey opportunities to make people successful in the future. He elaborates on how people who are successful normally did not get there on their own and explains how being at the right place at the right time can be the difference between success and failure. Sergey Brin had many opportunities that led him to becoming a billionaire. When Brin attended college at Stanford university where he met Larry Page and they became close friends.
The actions of these four businessmen in the late 1800s had overall a negative effect on society. These men were known as Robber Barons. A Robber Baron is someone who acquired a fortune in the 19th century by ruthless means. Examples of Robber Barons include JP Morgan, John Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie. These men gave horrible working conditions to their employees.
Think of success like watching a tree grow the branches split into different paths one can take each split is another opportunity to prosper and grow beautiful leaves like trophies. An uncommon belief is that the process of becoming successful is like a tree branch, if one starts off strong, more paths appear growing from the sturdy branch, and achieving goals lead to leaves growing to show wealth. “It is those who are successful, in other words, who are most likely to be given the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success,” (Gladwell 30). Author of nonfiction book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell, agrees with this uncommon belief, in his book he argues that success does not come from intelligence or passion
People have been successful repeatedly, but is there a pattern between wildly successful people? Do they have a secret to success that we can’t identify? What these authors believe is the secret to success is through research and observation. Malcolm Gladwell and Marge Piercy believe they have an answer to unlock success through that. In both texts, Malcolm Gladwell and Marge Piercy can agree on dedication, hard work, and purposeful practice are attributes you need to become successful.
Carnegie's business solidified the opposition however in spite of this, he trusted individuals ought to know the amount they are genuinely winning (Document 3). Carnegie realized that on the off chance that somebody didn't buckle down, they would not make the cut and get to be distinctly fruitful. Not exclusively was society enhanced by commitment to a business, however it could be enhanced by philanthropy
As Carnegie was growing both richer each day from his prosperous Steel company, he had eventually become one of the captains of industry and also in some cases a robber baron. Other owners like Rockefeller were also a part of this group. going back to the Gospel of Wealth, after Carnegie had accumulated an excessive amount of money he had pulled up from his successful industry, he felt the need to use it correctly to benefit everyone or people who didn't have as much money as
Media influence on Rockefeller I remember once stealing a small book from my father’s library while still in middle school. Later I found out that this book was talking about millionaires, analyzing their lives, habits, and skills. The most important thing that these, so called successful people had in common was their goal, their goal to achieve great wealth during their lifetime and they did so. They all knew exactly what they wanted so they went forward and achieved it. In addition, John D. Rockefeller, the wealthiest man in America and world during his time, has said “If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it.”
But alas, most workers were in dangerous jobs, and a lot were hurt or killed. Working conditions were so bad, that labor organizations were formed, and strikes and protests began to have the government to step in and help the average american. Paragraph 2: With urbanization, corporations and companies looked for ways to cut corners, or increase their profit margin. This lead to some safety issues.
They filled out the spaces of failures by their perspective of opportunities and invented success. For example: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Nelson Mandela, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tupac Shakur and many more. If it wasn’t for them, world wouldn’t be where it is today in each and every way. No companies, no businesses, no refineries or nation would exist like they do, if it wasn’t for them. These entrepreneurs today are titled as “Richest”, not just because of the money they are making, but because they earned it, according to the deepest risks, best decision making and seeing a vision through it.
