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Impact and consequences of the industrial revolution
Impact and consequences of the industrial revolution
Impact and consequences of the industrial revolution
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The question of whether John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were "captains of industry" or "robber barons" is a complex one. Both John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie played significant roles in the growth and development of American industry during the late 19th and early 26th centuries. On one hand, they are often referred to as "captains of industry" because of their entrepreneurial spirit and their ability to innovate and transform entire industries.
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie’s was one of the most successful businessmen during America’s Age of Industrialization in the 1880’s. After the Civil War, he saw a future in having a career in the iron industry, and later on, decided to invest in the steel industry (PBS). Though Carnegie is most known for his contribution in the steel industry, he took part in a few other businesses as well. However, the Gilded Age is an era full of poverty and corruption hidden underneath the prosperous, wealthy nation, and the working conditions within Carnegie Steel Company were not much better than those in other factories (Resetar).
All this industry produced a lot of wealth for several businessmen like Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan. These men were well-known as the “Captains of Industry”. Cornelius Vanderbilt also known as “The Commodore” built on of the largest shipping empires in the world. In his early years he was a steamboat manager and entrepreneur. He decided to sell all his ships and invest his money into railroads.
Rockefeller, but were really these false “robber barons” looking to improve their outside image. They had a lack of empathy for those not being their big business partners, allowing them to acquire and maintain substantial amounts of money. In a first hand interview with “Robber Baron” William H. Vanderbilt, when asked “... But don’t you run it (the railroads) for the public benefit?”, Vanderbilt replies saying “The public be damned.
A “robber baron” is defined as one who uses immoral methods to get rich. John D. Rockefeller, king of oil and the owner of the Standard Oil Company, was known for these unscrupulous tactics. Rockefeller’s peculiar ideas of the “law of nature” in accordance with his “primitive savagery” allowed this stealthy businessman to manipulate his way to the top. Although Rockefeller’s oil monopoly attributed to the wealth of the American economy, he destroyed the morality of modest men to accomplish ultimate power and prestige making him one of the wealthiest industrialists during his time.
The charge about the old days of the American economy—the nineteenth century, the “Gilded Age,” the era of the “robber barons”—was that it was always beset by a cycle of boom and bust. Whatever nice runs of expansion and opportunity that did come, they always seemed to be coupled with a pretty cataclysmic depression right around the corner. Boom and bust, boom and bust—this was the necessary pattern of the American economy in its primitive state. In the US, in the modern era, all this was smoothed out.
It started in the late 19th century and ended in the early 20th century. During this period, the entrepreneurs Jay Gould, Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan and Anrew Carnegie founded large operations are known as trusts. These trusts helped them build their wealth and business empires and laid the foundation for modern America. To achieve this, the businessmen turned to methods that are seen as unscrupulous. Their methods and behavior led to a debate on wheter they are Captains of Industry, who contribute positively to the country, or Robber Barons, who utilized questionable tactics to reach their success.
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.
The late 19th century was full of growth, production, and business. People were craving power and seemed to achieve this through any means necessary. Consequently, a new business elite formed consisting of the richest men alive. The way in which these individuals acquired all their profits is something very contradictory even over one-hundred years later. Some historians characterize these businessmen as “robber barons” who used extreme methods to control and concentrate wealth and power, and being supported by multiple sources, this statement is justified but only to some extent.
This was because of what business they were involved in, how they competed against their rival businesses, and the treatment of their workers. Men such as J. P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller were considered “robber barons” in their time. These men were very wealthy and had companies that took over any company that was like it. They almost had complete control over any business that competed with theirs.
John d. Rockefeller was the exact definition of a “Robber Baron”. He played dirty by buying out companies and then using those to buy out other competitors. He raised prices in areas with no competition to destroy other companies, also he would spy on other companies to better understand what kind of competition he had. These factors are what make John D. Rockefeller a “Robber Baron” in
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.
“The Men Who Built America DVD” begins immediately after the American Civil War. The United States was in a rebuilding stage and the future of the country seemed uncertain. During the next 35 years, there would be a group of men who would change the country and the world forever. These men would have power and wealth never before seen in the world and would direct the United States into the 20th century. The first man is Cornelius Vanderbilt who was a successful business man his entire life.
A Captain of Industry is used to describe a successful businessman. Carnegie created an efficient steel industry. He did this by, converting iron into steel and built a new steel plant for his company called, Carnegie Steel Company. In the excerpt, “Who was Andrew Carnegie,” the author says, “Carnegie changed huge batches of iron into steel, which was much more flexible than brittle iron. Carnegie threw his own money into the process and even borrowed heavily to build a new steel plant near Pittsburgh.”
Most of these people were Robber Barons who had a monopoly. Vanderbilt started off in the steamboat industry as a young man, and was known as being fierce and ruthless. When Vanderbilt grew up, he created his monopoly in the railroad company. He closed off New York to any railroad company until they would give up and sell him the tracks around New York.
