John D. Rockefeller And Andrew Carnegie: Captains Of Industry

John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were not captains of industry, they were robber barons. They treated their workers as machines and would do anything to get rich. Carnegie ran his company without any concerns pertaining to his workers. They worked long hours with very low wages and high risk of injury. Their work days were often 12 to 14 hours, for which they earned about ten dollars a week. The lighting, heating, cooling, and ventilation were all very poor. People worked with open furnaces filled with molten metal, and quite often, the only protective gear they had were a few pairs of long underwear. (W*) At one point, Carnegie shut down his company for a short while and sent away quite a few employees. It was winter, and those people

He wanted to keep them happy enough so they wouldn’t cause a ruckus and alert the media to his other shifty goings on. He did pretty well, but he could’ve done better: paid them a higher wage and settled for being a half- billionaire. (W) Both these men were focused on getting the most out of their men with the lowest cost. Less money for the employees means more money for the employer. In addition, Rockefeller and Carnegie were ruthless in regards to competition. Rockefeller would buy companies, smother others, and demand compliance from the rest. He would send spies to look into what other oil companies were doing so he could stay one step ahead. Rockefeller would demand rebates from railroad systems that shipped his products. He fought hard to monopolize his industry. If anyone got in his way, they were immediately crushed to smithereens. The other companies had the option of joining the Standard Oil Co. or eating their dust. (W) Carnegie always had to have the most efficient process, the cheapest product, even if that meant throwing away safety completely. (W*) Those furnaces were really prodigiously hot, and they were very open as