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The Wave Of Industrialism: Andrew Carnegie And John D. Rockefeller

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Olivia Strzalka 10/19/15 The wave of industrialism, in the 1800s and 1900s, was driven by men that ruled over American industry.These two men, most commonly known as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, used strategies and tactics that made some people think of them as robber barons while others had a more positive outlook and believed they were captains of industry. Robber barons referred to people who used unfair business practices. On the contrary, captains of industry were entrepreneurs who took risks developing the new inventions and technology during the era of the Industrial Revolution. These men were ingenious and industrious …show more content…

In this composition, he addressed that the three ways for wealth to be distributed are give it to the family, use it for public service, or to administer it throughout the life of the possessor. (Wealth and Its Uses 31) He later goes on to explain that, “The only mode of producing lasting good by giving large sums of money is from the millionaire to give as close attention to its distribution during his life as he did to its acquisition” (Wealth and Its Uses 31). From all the uses that he listed, it is clear that he believed most strongly in giving large sums of money for the people. Carnegie used dedication and strategical thinking to build a fortune and use it to help others. His life growing up, gave him the experience of what the lower class people had to endure, he started out with nothing, but he took advantage of the opportunities he was presented with. Rockefeller, although he is portrayed as a robber baron, gave away more than half of his profit from the oil company, as well as donated one tenth of his income to charity. (The Trust and Monopoly) Despite being labeled falsely as a robber baron, he proved that he was a resourceful businessman that saw an opportunity and went for it, he used his resources and connections in the railroad company to earn him the millionaire status. With great power comes great responsibility, and these captains took it upon themselves, and realized that their responsibility, and duty to the nation, was to inform and educate the people on how to be successful as well. Charity work was crucial to the captains, Carnegie especially felt that it was only right that he established means of educated the masses. In his speech in 1895 he mentioned, “ [Schools] It establishes something that will last for generations. It will educate the brain, the spiritual part of man” ( Wealth and Its Uses 31). It is seen

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Another reason that they were robber barons was they took down smaller companies so that they could have all of the money in the industry. Rockefeller also manipulated the country's financial system so that he could make more money. Carnegie was also ruthless to his workers. His employees were broke in freezing temperatures and had no food

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There are so many views when considering the industrialists of late 19th century to be captains of industry while others consider them as Robber barons because they like practicing a system called the monopoly. Monopoly . they built huge companies and practice unfair businesses; which make them drive their counterparts out of business; and when they do such things, they are stealing businesses from competitors. Most people refer to them as the king of the American industries during the 19th century. Some viewed them as greedy, unprincipled and corrupt.

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He uses this Charles Darwin attitude of “survival of the fittest”, saying that “...law may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it insures the survival of the fittest in every department [...] essential for the future progress of the race” (Doc 3). Carnegie believes that him and other wealthy beings deserve to have more fortune because they worked harder than anyone else for it, everyone has that equal opportunity.. In addition, anyone else who aspires to work as much as they do can earn just as much money as they

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Thesis : After the Civil War, America was in a post-war boom. During the 1870-1890, big business moguls, such as Rockefeller and Carnegie, create huge corporations which not only affected the economy, but also affected the political realm of America. While many may assume that during the rise of these big business helped to change the economy and politics,  the real focus was on the responses formed by society, such as labor unions, increase public outcry, and political opposition groups that helped to change society. A: Economically, big business flourished during the late 1800s.

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He spent the last part of his life giving away millions of dollars. He donated funds to build more than 3,000 public libraries and he funded the Tuskegee and Carnegie Institutes. In his book, The Gospel of Wealth, he described the importance of charitable giving for the public good. These actions instantly changed Andrew Carnegie from a robber baron to a captain of industry.

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Carnegie thinks it is better to build public institutions than give charity to the poor because the poor need to have the “desire to improve” and find help in these public institutions. (Carnegie 30). He believes that rather wealthy “Men who continue hoarding great sums all their lives” can find the proper use for their money, which is to help the community. (Carnegie 29). By just giving money to the poor the wealthy are doing all their work and instead the poor should find the assistance they need to improve their lives.

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Carnegie was without a doubt a beneficent man. Not having any desire to kick the bucket with a crazy measure of cash, Carnegie chose to help general society. He was exceptionally contributing individual from society and gave away as much cash conceivable. " There stays, then, just a single method of utilizing incredible fortunes; … The obligation of the man of riches (is to) set a case of unobtrusive … living … ; and … to consider every surplus income … as trust assets … to create the most useful consequences of the group - the man of riches in this way turning into the … operator for his poorer brethren, conveying to their administration his prevalent astuteness, experience, and capacity to direct; showing improvement over they would or could accomplish for themselves… " (Document 8) says Carnegie.

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To consider surplus as trust funds to produce the most beneficial results from the community. ’’ He wanted to donate all his money for the greater good of the community. Andrew Carnegie also opened many Carnegie libraries where people can use books without a fee because he believed that if a man wanted work and gained knowledge he should be able to. In (document 9) it shows how much he donated not in total but in that list alone he donated 271,013,000 dollars and in total he gave 350,695,653.

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The Industrial and Gilded Age of America was a period of rapid economic growth, technological advancement, and social change. During this time, many entrepreneurs and industrialists emerged as powerful figures in American society. Some of these figures, such as Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan, were known as "Captains of Industry" for their philanthropy, innovation, and contributions to the growth of the American economy. However, others, such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, and James Fisk, were known as "Robber Barons" for their ruthless business practices, exploitation of workers, and monopolistic control of industries. The debate over whether these figures were Titans of Business, Captains of Industry, or Robber

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Carnegie but he thought that more people should give to the poor. Andrew Carnegie believed that the rich should not spend the money on themselves, nor pass the money down to their children. He thought the only good way to use riches was to give to those who, even though poor, may not have deserved it. Many people are revolved around family, they want their family name to carry on and their children to succeed, so if they have the money, they want to give it to their kids.

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He believed that if the wealthy don't give back some of their profits to the community, they are living a dishonorable life, and although I didn't necessarily agree with this radical viewpoint at first, I now am a firm believer in Carnegie's argument about wealth.

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John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were abundantly similar when it came to traits that made them sucessful in business endeavors. They both rose from extreme povery and disadvantage as children. Limitations did not exist when it came to their inner core of ruthlessness exhibited at times against their competitors and even their employees. They took complete control of every detail of their business and ran it with a prerogative to control a large part of the American economy.

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Carnegie was considered a Robber Baron for many reasons. For example, he gained huge profits because of his workers low wages. In the excerpt, “Who was Andrew Carnegie,” the author said, “his steel workers were often pushed to long hours and low wages.” Workers worked in harsh conditions and received no benefits causing them to live in poverty with scarce food, clothing, and shelter. Workers were tired of the low wages and decided to go on strike.

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The topic of the American drinking age has been a controversy since president Ronald Reagan passed the Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984. The Minimum Drinking Age Act requires people to be 21 years old to legally purchase alcohol. The act was passed in order to end blood borders with states and lower the high drinking and driving fatality rates between the 18-20 year old age groups. Those who are against the current drinking age argue that it is too high and should be lowered to 18 because the United States has one of the highest minimum drinking ages in the world. I am for the current drinking age because it effects high school dropout rates, alcohol effects the development of an adolescent’s brain, and if lowered, there will be an increase

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For instance, Carnegie presented his library named Carnegie Library, he considers this “the best kind of philanthropy” (Ernsberger). By this he indicates the correct way a wealthy individual should live,is by giving back to the community. On the contrary, Richard argues this as negative affect to the company due to the loss of income. Richard believes that Carnegie shouldn’t have spent his money on helping the community instead, he should have continued to invest it on the steel industry. Overall, Richard views Carnegie as “little capitalist who urged presidents to do right things in Philippines, Panama and international diplomacy [but] had never done the right or moral thing as a businessman,” (Ernsberger).

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