ipl-logo

Robber Barons: The Progressive Era

1052 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Robber barons and captains

Robber Barons were like robin hoods, but reversed. Instead of stealing from the rich to give to the poor, they would steal from the poor by giving the rich a discount on a product, then making that same product up for a poorer person (Whitehead, 2016). The Civil War has just ended. America is thrown into a time of industrialism that it wasn’t properly prepared for. Before all of the industrialism was put into the equation, we were a mess and with the industrialism, we were a disaster, just waiting to explode. However, with all of the good things that the new era brought, it also brought many bad things too. For an example, it brought bad living conditions, poverty, segregation, women don’t have rights, and monopolies. Something needs to change to make America better. The era that makes this possible, and gives America the potential to be a great country, is the Progressive Era. The Progressive Era was the era that destroyed many things that the big industrialist liked having (i.e. monopolies) (Whitehead, 2016). The changes in the Progressive Era were not a result of the big industrialist changing their minds, because they like having things that were latter banned in the Progressive Era.
The robber barons got rich by cheating the poor people who were either their worker or their customer. Ways they cheated people …show more content…

So, someone else might say that the changes in the progressive era were a result of the big industrialist changing their minds because in the end of their lives, they gave away all of their money. If the big industrialist gave away all of their money at the end of their lives, they must have felt bad about cheating their workers, so they changed the way that they treated their workers. Whoever said that would be wrong. They would be wrong because it took two acts to end monopolies, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (Whitehead,

Show More
Related
205 Words | 1 Pages

The robber barons were the big industrial powers and large business owners who controlled the urban communities. The industrialization of urban cities allowed the creation of mass produced products at a low price. The industrialization of cities helped boost the production products created by unskilled labor. These capitalist enthusiasts abused their workers by offering low salary jobs, and creating poor working conditions.

Read More
218 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More
232 Words | 1 Pages

The economic elements of the Progressive Era revolved mainly around the trusts that had a hold of the economy, as well as the trust-busting that Roosevelt took part in at the time. Big companies started taking over the economy due to the building monopolies and Roosevelt became determined to break up the damaging trusts. For example, oil companies such as Rockefeller’s and Standard Oil had basically dominated the whole oil industry during this time by driving out smaller business and intimidating railroad industries to transport their oil. Previously mentioned companies like Rockefeller’s proposed that their trusts allowed for economic advancements such as oil management and steady jobs for men, but most trusts threatened the public interests

Read More
142 Words | 1 Pages

Throughout the Progressive Era the government worked to restrict the power of unregulated big business and provide tariff and banking reforms. I believe one of the central debate initiators was when trusts and monopolies became customary, people were usually forced to accept expensive prices and poorer quality product. Laborers were exploited through the smallest salary and dangerous working circumstances, even though employers wanted to prevent the development of labor unions Muckrakers, who were influential journalists, worked to show unjustness and error in American. In 1902, urban political machines were called out by the muckrakers. Lincoln Steffens began strikes against unethical government relationships with large businesses in

Read More
1777 Words | 8 Pages

After the Civil War, America gave rise to a new era of industrialism, the Gilded Age. An era dominated by powerful figureheads of industry, otherwise known as robber barons, America soon became an international economic power. Many believe that America’s international economic power is due to the doctrine of laissez-faire capitalism, where businesses operated without any interference from the government. However, there are multiple instances where the American government had directly supported the rise of industrialism. Thus, the Gilded Age’s success cannot only be attributed to laissez-faire because of the government intervention through the use of corruption practices, foreign policy, rail roads and the government’s response, government

Read More
783 Words | 4 Pages

“The Progressive movement of 1901 to 1971 was a triumph of conservatism rather than a victory for liberalism,” is a false statement implying that the Progressive movement was not liberal win when it very much was. The progressive movement allowed for all types of government reforms and policies that are all very liberal in a sense. With the Progressives, the laissez-faire government that allowed for many businesses to run free will no longer exist and regulations of all kinds of business will be put into place. The three presidents to reside in the White House during this era, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Woodrow Wilson, all shared at least one point of view with liberals. The progressive era is the era of the liberals.

Read More
485 Words | 2 Pages

The Progressive Era is one of the reasons America still stands strong today. It lasted from the 1890’s to the 1920’s and seeked to reform American policies and government. There are 3 main people who have contributed to the Progressive area - Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. These three presidents enforced and introduced laws and regulations that allowed more flexibility and choice for the people, and they are still in use today. If it weren’t for them, America would still be overly ruled by corporations and silenced by the government and our people would be sick.

Read More
314 Words | 2 Pages

Question 1. The progressive period in US history started in the 1890s and remained current through the 1920s. Progressive leaders in the US include President Teddy Roosevelt, President William Howard Taft, and President Woodrow Willson. The main objective of progressives was to rid the government of corruption. These progressive leaders targeted political machines and worked to rid the country of monopolistic enterprises that were exploiting regular citizens.

Read More
968 Words | 4 Pages

A robber baron is described as a person, most likely a businessman, who handled their power to progress industrial monopolies, obtaining power from politics, and finally gaining wealth in the process. Whereas, a captain of industry is recognized as a business leader who contributed positively to their own country. Many questions asked, an important one is, “Are Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller, robber barons or captains of industry?” During the nineteenth century, there were many methods in which the following business men used. For an example, monopoly, a hand in politics, or other unusual business practices.

Read More
2149 Words | 9 Pages

During the Progressive Era, most employers were not concerned with workers rights and focused more on profit than human rights or safety. The poor working class, as well as immigrants who had worked in the United States for a while, became infuriated over the unfair treatment and working conditions of which they suffered. Hugh Rockoff explains, “…industrialization had alienated the workingman…” (Rockoff 747).

Read More
684 Words | 3 Pages

The Progressive Movement, occurring between the 1890s-1920s, arose to ameliorate the deficiencies of the Gilded Age. Although the Gilded Age was a prosperous time for the U.S. economy, the wealth was not distributed evenly. Yes, the Progressive Movement failed to address racial equality, but there were milestones in remedying political corruption, making the free market less monopolized, and improving the quality of life for the population which made the progressive movement overall-effective. Prior to the Progressive Movement, during the Gilded Age, the U.S. was plagued with corrupt politicians.

Read More
842 Words | 4 Pages

After the Civil War, our country was battered and beaten, but it rebuilt itself over time and spread its policies, as well as manufacturing practices, throughout our country. Early in the 20th century, members of our nation started to look at some of these practices and policies and began to question their merit and whether they assisted our population or not. Many people were involved in the progressive movement in America from the presidents to a slew of popular authors and photographers. The one thing that they had in common was that they saw problems with how various industries in our nation performed that they knew needed to be fixed. They did not always agree on everything, such as immigration, but they always had the nation’s best interest at heart.

Read More
1517 Words | 7 Pages

The Progressive Era marked a turning point for women in America because it was when women took their values that they taught in the home and applied them to social, political, and labor issues. One of the main focuses of women at the time was on social issues. Women felt that during the Gilded Age, the idea of the Cult of Domesticity was still prominent and that they were treated as second class citizens. As mothers, they practiced teaching their children morals

Read More
565 Words | 3 Pages

Robber Barons were people who built a fortune by stealing money from the American people, and creating monopolies. The men of the 1800’s were Robber Barons. These men drove out their competition, treated their workers terribly, and created monopolies. Some Robber Barons at the time include, John D. Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt. 7 percent of American people owned 90 percent of America’s wealth in total.

Read More
997 Words | 4 Pages

One thing most of these reformers seeked was an increase in their workplaces. They were not as concerned about the monopoly factor as long as, “[...]he provided job security and adequate wages and working conditions, and passed some of the benefits of large-scale production on to consumers in the form of lower prices” (Joseph Huthmacher 13). Based on Huthmacher’s article, historians should focus more on the lower class and their thoughts, such as their real life experiences and careers, when interpreting the Progressive

Read More

More about Robber Barons: The Progressive Era

Related Topics

Open Document