Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?

     With the close of the civil war in 1865, America quickly became in industrial power house.  From 1865 to 1900, there was an escalating industrial growth.  In the growth of the industry, there was an expansion of railroads and steel production.  Immigrants were encouraged to come to the States.  The growth in immigration led to more industrial workers.  During this time, there was also a growth in corporations, trusts and monopolies.  Corporations were companies owned by the public.  Trusts were a number of companies that came together to control a single industry.  A monopoly is a single company that controls all of an industry.  With corporations and trusts, there were a few benefits.  They were both very efficient, time wasn’t wasted on ad campaigns or competition and products were created at a lower price for customers.  After learning the basics of the growing Industry, we learned began to learn about Robber Barons and Captains of Industries.  This led to the creation of the essential question: Were Carnegie and Rockefeller robber barons or captains of industry?

     John D. Rockefeller was a very important poor to rich figure during the late 1800’s.  In my opinion, Rockefeller was a Captain of Industry.  He did both positive and negative things for America.  In 1870, he founded the standard oil company.  While his success grew, Rockefeller put future in oil and bought most of his partners.  His company pioneered vertical immigration where a company secures a market by controlling all of the aspects of a product or service.  This limited competition and allowed the company to manage industries.  Little by little, Rockefeller made all oil companies in America his oil companies.  Despite buying and destroying rivals, Rockefeller also did many good things that should be recognized.  His unjust methods he improved the efficiency of the work.  He developed a system of drilling facilities, railroad delivery, and oil refineries.   This helped the customer and refined the economy.  Rockefeller also was big on philanthropy; the act of giving away millions of dollars for the advancement of medicine, education, and science.  By the end of his career, he donated an estimated $55 million to all kinds of charity.  Even though Rockefeller made very corrupt and sportsmanship like decisions, he did a lot for the people of America. 

     Andrew Carnegie was also a very interesting man who also had many positive and negative attributes.  Carnegie, too, in my opinion is a Captain of Industry.   Rockefeller, Carnegie came from a

poor family.  The more success and fame he achieved, he became a ruthless businessman and was regarded as an innovator for his own greed.  Carnegie also controlled raw material, transportation and manufacturing; vertical integration.  He was among the first to implement the production of steel.  The production of steel, under his control, soon surpassed the British.  Carnegie practiced the “Gospel of Wealth” where he had the moral obligation to use wealth for public good.  He donated money to research, Universities, and many libraries.  Despite being unfair with other business men, Carnegie used a lot of his wealth to help Americans prosper in health and education. 

     Both Rockefeller and Carnegie were not the kindest people in the world, especially towards their competition.  They wanted to become successful people and did as much as they could to get to the top.  But, despite the not so nice path they took, it is important to remember what they did for America.

http://www.britannica.com/biography/John-D-Rockefeller

http://carnegie.org/about-us/foundation-history/about-andrew-carnegie/