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Was Rockefeller A Robber Baron Or Captain Of Industry

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During the Eighteen Nineties the United States was extremely different from how it is now. Working conditions were horrendous, people were often over promised jobs, in factories where disease spread quickly and people often suffered psychologically because of the lack of change and the continuous cycle of doing the same jobs everyday over the span of many years without any form of change. Children were forced to work which prevented them from getting a good education. Those bad working conditions had very low wages and long hours, and on top of all of that bosses usually imposed intrusive rules. Most bosses of factories and companies like this were very wealthy. Wealthy people could be considered robber barons, which are a negative term used …show more content…

Rockefeller is more of a robber barron and Andrew Carnegie is more of a captain of industry. Rockefeller is more of a robber baron because of the monopoly he creates and the railroads he put out of business. Carnegie is more of a captain of industry because of the way he saved money for his companies and other companies, he also used vertical integration, he donated money to different charity groups, and he had different strategies for making things better. John D. Rockefeller is one of the richest men in his time. He was very ruthless and he knew what he had to do in order to become more successful. He didn’t care what he did to others to get what he needed to strive. When Rockefeller first started off in the oil business, he transported his oil using railroads and trains. “Railroad companies decided to set high freight rates but agreed to award substantial rebates for members of the South Improvement Company. This plan prevented price wars among railroad companies and forced smaller oil refiners to go out of business if they didn’t join the association.” This caused the standard oil company to make a …show more content…

He is more of a captain of industry because he was smart. He knew what he had to do in order to be more successful. ” HE readily admitted that he understood little about making steel, but he did know how to run a business. He surrounded himself with skillful managers and drove them relentlessly.” Carnegie didn’t know anything about steel. But he went to someone who knew all about steel and he became more successful that way. He didn’t waste time he knew what he needed in order to get to his goal and he went straight for whatever he needed. Not only was he smart enough to know when he was going to need outside help, he also knew how to save money. Carnegie bought things that he knew he would need for his business that saved him more money in the future. “ Carnegie also used vertical integration to control costs—that is, he acquired companies that provided materials and services upon which his enterprises depended. ” Carnegie knew he had money but he still saved money like he wasn’t as wealthy as he really was. Also, Carnegie donated some of his money to multiple different things that now have his name on them. “During his lifetime he gave more than $350 million to various educational, cultural, and peace institutions, many of which bear his name. His first public gift was in 1873 for baths in the town of his birth; his largest single gift was in 1911 for $125 million to establish the Carnegie Corporation

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116 Words | 1 Pages

As stated, Carnegie’s personal, primary goal was to take over the entire Steel producing industry, so that he can maximize profits and minimize competition. Vertical integration was when Carnegie’s company bought everything from their suppliers, so that the company itself controls the distribution and selling of materials. Along with this, horizontal integration is when companies that made similar products to those of Carnegie’s, would come together and form one giant corporation. This was a very important concept, as this process not only allowed Carnegie’s company to become the largest maker of steel, but this would teach others great strategies on how to become a successful business leader, leading to a very important economic theory, Social

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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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Your health is more important to us than the business.(John D. Rockefeller and the oil industry) That shows that he cares more about the workers health than his own business. He approached the idea of the standard oil family and he tried to get every person in his family to work.(John D. Rockefeller and the Oil industry) That proves that he believes in working hard. From his actions he is overall not a robber baron because he pays his

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823 Words | 4 Pages

He was a captain of Industry for a couple of reasons. Carnegie worked under the rival of Vanderbilt, Tom Scott for most of his life. After Scott died he tried to fill his shoes, but it didn’t work out, so he started his own company called Carnegie Steel. Carnegie did very important and impressive things with his steel. He built a bridge that crossed the Mississippi from one side to the other.

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John D. Rockefeller was called a robber baron because many people believed he used unethical business practices to amass his extraordinary wealth. One of the most known was his practice of demanding rebates from railroads. Because Standard Oil shipped such large amounts of oil by rail, Rockefeller insisted that the railroads offer him rebates, or a discounted rate. This policy gave Standard

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Here is a few reasons why all four of these businessmen Andrew Carnegie, George Eastman, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan were all Captains of Industry and why they also donated millions of dollars. Here are the reasons why these 4 businessmen donated millions of dollars (Philanthropist). A reason why Eastman was a Captain of Industry was that he donated money and scholarships/internships to engineering students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A reason why Rockefeller was a Captain of Industry was that he donated to the Rockefeller’s fortune peaked in 1912 at almost $900,000,000, but by that time already gave away hundreds of millions of dollars. A reason why Morgan was a Captain of Industry was that he loaned more than 60

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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.

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Andrew Carnegie: Road to Wealth and Success Seen as a robber baron, Andrew Carnegie may have toll advantage of his loyal employees and his relentless competition, his personal intentions and innovations within the steel industry and his philanthropic distribution undeniably changed America’s society and views of education. In the early nineteenth century, American industrialist were gathering good ideas through Carnegie’s innovations and initiative. When Carnegie started out onto the road to success and wealth, from rags to riches and earned his big reputation that he brought among himself. For the successful people who misused their employees and competition were inevitably labeled as “robber barons,” i.e. John D. Rockefeller.

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The context of Andrew Carnegie becoming a captain of industry is from the Industrial Revolution. Industrialism is the expansion of factories and the mass production of manufactured goods like steel. The Industrial Revolution of the early 19th century set the foundation for the rise of Carnegie steel. He is a Captain of Industry because he used his money to build libraries and paid thousands of churches. His wealth helped out schools and non profit organizations.

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Carnegie was known to be a great businessman but also a cruel, strict boss. He exploited the working class to gain huge profits. He later wrote an article titled “Gospel of Wealth” in which he says there is nothing wrong with making fortunes. His views were very similar to Social Darwinism which used the “survival of the fittest” theory as an attempt to justify actions of the rich. In addition, Carnegie used vertical integration to expand his company.

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That made Carnegie feel intimidated so Carnegie basically sabotaged his company by sending out notices to railroads telling them that Allegheny’s business would lead to defective rails which would in the end cause fatal acciendents. In the end Csrnegie was sucessful with this because Allegheny’s business sufferend and Carnegie took control of the works. This shows that Carnegie didn’t like competition because it made him lose money and because Carnegie loved his money he would do anything within his power to take down any competetion completely and only gain money for himself. This proves that Carnegie is also not a Hero because he doesn’t play fair instead of Carnegie trying to negotiate a deal with Allegheny he took him out and stole his business

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Often, he made harsh business decisions that negatively impacted his employees; however, he always felt it was justified. One reason he felt it was justified was that he was serving “America by building their enterprises.” (44). He saw the creation of wealth as a noble endeavor. When Carnegie built his company, he ended up creating one of the biggest companies in the world.

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A hero in disguise, a philanthropist at heart, Andrew Carnegie was one of the richest and most successful businessmen in America in the 19th century. Andrew was born November 25th, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland then later moved to America, when he was 13, where he worked a series of jobs involving telegraphing and railroad construction. Carnegie, being the mastermind he was, clawed his way out of poverty with hard work and determination into a life of riches when he founded his own steel production company, Carnegie Steel Company, in 1889. As illustrated in Andrew Carnegie’s “Wealth” in the North American Review, he said that you could go from being dirt poor to filthy rich only with a changing civilization and also with hard work, which is

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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,

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235 Words | 1 Pages

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.

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