How Did Robber Barons Affect The Economy

Throughout the 19th century, industry as a whole became a major power house of society. Lust for invention and scientific thinking were encorporated into the mindsets of the American population. Sparked from thought and invention -- most notably from Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright Brothers, and Henry Ford -- industry was vital in influencing social and economic competition. As poverty increased in America -- resulting from rapid immigration and a competitive market economy -- so did wealthy individuals gain monetary stature. While some of those gaining wealth during this time period could be considered "Robber Barons", as they manipulated the law, influenced elections, and misinterpreted the truth in order to make gains,

Carnegie dominated his industry inside and out. He owned everything from the production of the raw materials, the manufacturing of the products, the transportations of the products, and even the sales to the consumers. This allowed him to cut his losses and gain as much of a product as possible. Eventually, Carnegie was able to buy out competing companies and, in effect, soar to unfathomable economic heights. After becoming such an industrial "power house," Carnegie found himself associated with unfit terms like 'monopoly' and "Robber Baron." Starting out as a poor Scottish immigrant, Carnegie was able to fairly make his way up the industrial food chain. Beginning as a teenage messenger boy in a Pittsburgh telgraph office, Carnegie became one of the first in the country to take messages by sound. This useful skill allowed Carnegie to ascend the industrial ladder. After investing all he owned into the steel mill corporation, Carnegie became one of the wealthiest men in the world. While occasionally being dubbed a "robber baron", Carnegie would quickly prove himself otherwise with his extreme generosity. Beginning as a poor immigrant, Carnegie wanted to support the lower and uneducated class: he knew how it felt to have an ambiguous and undetermined future. In "The Gospel of Wealth" Carnegie said,

Morgan -- worked formidablely to gain wealth and stature in the United States of America's economic system. Born into a middle class family, John Pierpont Morgan was determined to acheive in the monetary entities of American society. He modeled himself after his father, Junius Spencer Morgan, who was an American banker and financer invovled in the dry-goods business. Graduating from the University of Göttingen, J.P. Morgan immediately surrounded himself with finance, as he involved himself in a London branch of banking. His most notable financial move was the merging of Edison General Electric and Thompson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric. In 1901 He also merged the Carnegie Steel Company with several other steel and iron businesses to form the United States Steel Corporation -- which became the first billion-dollar corporation in the world. With this monetary success, J.P. Morgan was able to focus on facile aspects of existence: some being book, picture, and other art object collecting. He loaned and gave many of his collected objects to the Metropolitan Museum of Art -- of which he was president and a major force in its establishment. By the turn of the century he had become one of America's most important collectors of gems and had assembled the most important gem