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Was John D. Rockefeller a robber baron? I’d say so. Through ruthless business tactics and exploitation of workers, he made a fortune in his lifetime. In this paper, I’m going to be talking about said business tactics and exploitation. If you believe Rockefeller was just a good business man who donated to the poor, I hope your view will be changed by the end.
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.
His work, The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy, allows readers to see a more picture perfect outlook on what the lives of these men entitled. Morris’s book was published in 2005, which allows readers to get a perspective from a long period of time and closer to reality rather than other historians writing on this era. The last author that allows readers to view the Robber Barons in a different manor is James Nuechterlein in his journal article Gifts of the “Robber Barons.” Nuechterlein wrote this article in 2007 allowing readers to view the men through historical resources that he uncovered. His stance shows a more balanced approach to the Robber Barons rather than saying one or the other was a better man than the other.
Leaders in the industry are always based off of two sections, one being a Robber Baron and the other a Captain of Industry. John D. Rockefeller and Sam Walton can both display traits from one of these two categories. Although they both play different roles in the industry, both Rockefeller and Walton have contributed to the economic and political stance of the industry today, making noticeable contributions, whether or not they had made a positive impact on their community and to the future practices of industrialism. Robber Barons are “a ruthlessly powerful U.S. capitalist or industrialist considered to have become wealthy by exploiting natural resources, corrupting legislators, or other unethical means” according to the dictionary. This form
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.
Henry George’s was a critic of big business and since there we social problems he blames it on a few monopolists to grow wealthy as a result of rising land values. He proposed a single tax on land to replace taxes which would be returned to in addition to the people. If they propose this tax it would destroy monopolies, distribute wealth, and it would eliminate poverty. Robber barons are the reason why people were being driven into poverty (DOC 1). The result of this was how the Northern capitalists led the South away from agriculture and economic dependence, and how they used their wealth to further grow the American industry.
The American Revolution (1775-1783) refers to the time period when the thirteen established colonies rose up against the British monarchy (newworldencyclopedia.org). For years, the British had taken advantage of those who lived in the thirteen colonies by imposing extremely restrictive taxes, acts, as well as policies that gave the colonists absolutely no governing power. Instead, they were given no representation, which was only one of many reasons colonists decided that it was time for a change. One of the reasons that the British sought to colonize was because it would allow them to increase their wealth.
Also, the robber barons also opened up many job positions for people and left usable resources for us like railroads, telecommunication service, libraries and etc. They changed the way we live
The United States had for years been improving and growing rapidly. Away from the other world powers in Europe, they were able to avoid their conflicts for a long time, but that changed. America got involved in World War One and it affected some of their advancements. U.S imperialism was able to thrive in WWI, with America using the power to expand their empire. American progressivism however, fell between the cracks and disappeared for a long while during and after the war.
In the late 1800’s, J.P Morgan, John Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie had a negative impact on society because they were Robber Barons. They treated their workers very poorly in a way that should not have happened. J.P Morgan forced his workers to labor under harsh conditions for long hours and low pay. This is coming from a guy who has made millions of dollars and who has started a 60 million dollar business. Knowing how much money he has and how very little he pays his workers shows how ruthless he is as a business owner.
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.
During J. P. Morgan’s time, Morgan himself was in a position to loan the Federal government huge sums of money. In essence he indirectly controlled the federal government and influenced their policies to serve his interests. He considered it a form of nationalism by doing so, even though he was rewarded handsomely in the form of interest paid back on the loan. The amount of wealth amassed by the top 1% of the population began to unnerve the American public and politicians alike. The rich got richer while the rest remained stagnant or became poorer.
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.
The carelessness that money creates allows those in power to bypass and disobey the laws because they believe their money will bail them out of trouble. Many wealthy people use their money as a reason to not take responsibility for their actions. Wealth causes the characters in The Great Gatsby to be out of touch with reality and the world beyond wealth. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's
Industrialists capitalized on plentiful, low cost labor to become extremely wealthy but became known as ‘robber barons’ because industrialists extracted wealth at the expense of those producing the output. Industrialists argued America’s economy would never have attained the heights achieved without them. Jay Gould rhetorically asked where America would be without corporations that developed
