George McNeil and Andrew Carnegie were very opinionated people. According to George McNeil a railroad president was exactly like a king, sultan, and shah. The president had the power to control wages and the hours of the workers. President also had power over the courts and the laws. A true president has a body of people under him regulation their power.
As our country reached the late 1800’s, Americans found themselves face to face with era known as the ‘Gilded Age’. Companies were created and grew rapidly during this time period. Some of the most famous entrepreneurs were John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, who seemed to be the perfect models for the ‘rags to riches’ story. Many people debate which entrepreneur was a better role-model. Due to his low prices, the high demand for his products, and the way he sought to eliminate any possible competition, John D. Rockefeller is clearly the better role-model for today’s entrepreneurs.
George Eastman, John Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie were all Captains of Industry. They were all philanthropists, which mean they donated a lot of money. George Eastman donated over 50 million dollars to dental, medical, and technology. Andrew Carnegie donated more than 475 million dollars to public education, museums, concert halls, technology, and benefactions after death. John Rockefeller donated more 410 million dollars to medical, education, and academic salaries.
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.
Every growing economy needs competition and Rockefeller and Carnegie were no other than the two who had discovered this perfectly. Through modification and deals with private owners, these men found their way to the top just like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates do now. Windows
Rockefeller ultimately controlled most of the production in the United Stated during their prime. Carnegie took over the steel industry while Rockefeller had controlled the majority of the oil industry, by the end of the 19th century America ultimately dominated both aspects. Both businessmen were also very well known for their contributions to philanthropy and ushering in a new age of American economic history. Moreover, the firm J.P. Morgan was considered to be a household name within the banking industry, the firm allowed for Americans to be financially secure and invest their hard earned money in stocks and bonds. Americans increased investing meant more revenue and taxes for the United States, financial security was crucial during this time due to the unforeseen collapse of the stock exchange, after the crash many Americans lost all their money and banks were forced to shut down meaning that they had to start back at square one.
At the end of the 19th Century, as the United States was experiencing rapid industrialization, a reconfiguration of the social order yielded opposing visions of social progress. Andrew Carnegie, wealthy businessman, and Jane Addams, founder of Chicago’s Hull House, put forward different methods to achieve such progress, where Addams focuses on creating social capital in a seemingly horizontal manner while Carnegie advocates for a top-down approach. While both of them seem to reap a sense of purpose from their attempts to improve the nation, their approaches vary depending on their vision of the composition of the population they want to uplift. First, Carnegie and Addams’ desire to improve society is partly self-serving. For Carnegie, improving society is the role of the wealthy man who, “animated by Christ’s spirit” (“Wealth”), can administer wealth for the community better than it could have for itself (“Wealth”).
Andrew Carnegie was a “robber baron” as shown in the way he acted towards the people who helped him reach the top and the terrible working environment that he subjected his workers to. He did various things in an attempt to positively alter his public image by overshadowing the awful things he had done. At the start of Carnegie’s career in business, he worked under Thomas Scott where he learned how to be successful in business. Minimizing costs were the best way to make a business profitable and lowering those required cutting wages, demanding 13 hour days and utilizing spies as a way to thwart possible strikes. He would use many of these ideas and practices in his own business causing him to eventually become the undisputed king of steel.
I categorized Andrew Carnegie a Captain of Industry after learning of his philanthropic views and actions. Carnegie not only obtained a wealth from working hard and wisely investing but used most of his fortune to make a difference on the world. Carnegie own words categorize the essence of generosity and kind hearth. I cannot disagree with him when he stated that “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced”
In the Scarlet Letter, Hester faces discrimination based on the beliefs about her “crime”-- adultery. In today’s society, people see homelessness as a “crime”, often stereotyping the homeless by associating them with drugs and mental illness. Both adulterers in Puritan society and the homeless in today’s society experience discrimination and undergo the feeling of isolation as a result of being different from normal society. In today’s society, many people discriminate the homeless, much like how Puritan society ostracizes Hester.
Andrew Carnegie was one of the most famous and wealthiest American industrialist during the Industrial Age. He was a robber baron who made a fortune in the steel industry and applied vertical integration to his business. Carnegie contradicted his views as a robber baron because he supported, but destroyed many unions. This made many of his views unethical.
Barons such as Andrew Carnegie, J.P Morgan, and John Rockefeller dominated the country through the enormous wealth that they amassed. The power that these individuals wielded was unfathomable. They even bought the presidency. It was through their combined might that William McKinley was elected. This pushed their power and wealth to even greater heights.
Coming with a successful business is people trying to find faults in your greatness. Rockefeller was a Captain of Industry, he helped improve the inventions we already had by making oil more readily available. By doing this he made a fortune which made people believe that he was unable to be trusted, but all of these suspicions were incorrect, Rockefeller made his money honestly and helped our country thrive and become who we are today. Rockefeller had competition in the oil industry but,
Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were hardworking and used their money to help others instead of keeping it for themselves. They both started and donated to charities. Carnegie gave away most of his money before he died and established thousands of libraries.
The men who built America also know the innovator is a docudrama and directed by Patrick Reams and Ruan Magan. This movie focuses on the life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford, and how their innovation and leadership skills renovated the modern society. But for the purpose of this assessment my research is based on John D Rockefeller and his leadership skills. Short History of John D. Rockefeller John D Rockefeller was born in 1839 in New York to Bill and Eliza Rockefeller. From a very young age his father taught him to be smart and cunning in every deal, and also not to trust anyone in his life including his father and His mother was a fervent Baptist and tried to instill in him the importance of being a good Christian.
