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What Were The Robber Barons Of The Emerging Growth Of America?

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In the late 19th century, the United States of America was growing rapidly, especially with the rise of industrial businesses and corporations. Some of the most popular figures that contributed to this growth were John D. RockRockefeller, Henry Ford, JP Morgan and Andrew Carnegie. These multi-millionaire tycoons gained wealth and fame during the “Gilded Age” by contributing to industrialization and the improvement of America as a whole. Although these individuals, and many more are typically known for their support and creation of the industrial revolution, were they “Robber Barons” or were they productive managers of the emerging growth of America? The term “Robber Baron” is defined as “a person who has become rich through ruthless and unscrupulous practices” according to The Oxford dictionary. I think that the definition above describes most of the individuals during the “Gilded Age”. These individuals often engrossed in environments that could potentially be harmful to workers, worked employees long hours where it could potentially be considered dangerous, paid their employees low wages, and often used their wealth and fame in order to take control of certain markets and businesses. …show more content…

Rockefeller was the founder of Standard Oil, and helped revolutionize the gas and oil industry while Henry Ford revolutionized the factory setting and the assembly line. While JP Morgan was primarily a businessman, he revolutionized the basic business, and became a huge supporting cast for the railroad industry. Finally, Andrew Carnegie innovated the steel production industry, and made steel production and transportation thrive throughout the country. The individuals mentioned above are only a fraction of the many different people that thrived and helped develop America during the Gilded Age”. These famous, or infamous industrialization tycoons thrived during the late 19th century, and created many of the businesses and operations that we know

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America’s Gilded Age was a period of sudden economic growth and it concentrated mainly on industrialization, it lasted from 1870-1890s. The Gilded Age was when immense wealth was accumulated by a few people, such as Andrew Carnegie who dominated the steel industry and John D. Rockefeller who dominated the oil industry. These two industrial leaders were known as “robber barons” especially Rockefeller because he drove out smaller businesses and he bought out all of his oil company competitions, this type of business method he undertook is known as horizontal expansion. Carnegie on the other took a different approach, he established a steel company that was “vertically integrated, meaning he controlled more than one stage of the supply chain.

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The industrialist leaders were robber barons throughout the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age was a term coined by Mark Twain to label an era defined for its corporate and political greed and corruption; furthermore, monopolies created by industrial leaders grew to prosperity. For instance, John D. Rockefeller was an American businessman who dabbled in the oil industry. Rockefeller practiced horizontal integration where he would ally with, buy out, or undermine competitors to monopolize his business. This allowed him to acquire the vast majority of the oil industry thus empowering Rockefeller to control the latter by forcing his competitors into bankruptcy.

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In the stage following the Civil War, Industrialization had many leaders. These leaders helped boom the growth of the economy and the industry in the United States. As historians have looked closer at the people who helped America become one of the leading industrial powers of the world, they’ve come to question the honesty of how these leaders really obtained their fortunes. The industrial and business leaders of the 1865-1900, also known as “Robber Barons, used various methods in order to build up their own wealth and power. These would use mechanisms that would go against the public population more often than not and those that would go near extremes.

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When Cornelius Vanderbilt died he left his $100 million fortune to his son William Vanderbilt and they both had the same attitude. During the Gilded Age these big business and their owners were thought of as being Robber Barons or Captains of Industry. The poor working conditions that were provided, the corruption they led in government, and their use of child labor shows that they were Robber Barons. Children were used in labor to work a lot and most days of the week. Kids as young as 5 often worked as much as 12 to 14 hours a day for barely any pay.

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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.

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The Gilded Age was a time of American economic prowess thanks in large part to the influence of a few tycoons. However, some believe these tycoons were not the so-called “Titans of Industry,” but rather “Robber Barons.” J.P. Morgan, for example, is erroneously considered to be the latter due to his expansive sphere of influence. Nevertheless, J.P. Morgan is truly a “Titan of Industry.” On April 17, 1837, J.P. Morgan was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to parents Junius Spencer Morgan and Juliet Pierpont (Wepman 1).

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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.

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For example, John D. Rockefeller made millions off of the Standard Oil Company. His company easily grew and did well because of his timing and the circumstances that the economy was in. Another example of a robber baron is J. P. Morgan. He was a banker but he was very unfair to the people that he worked with. Some of the things that these two have in common are they were both very powerful in society

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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.

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After the Civil War, the Second Industrial Revolution was established due to America’s rapid growth for industry and economics. Capitalists during the industrial period of 1875-1900’s were either accused of being a robber baron or a captain of industry. Some capitalists leaders who were accused of being a robber baron or captain of industry included J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew W. Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller. A robber baron is a business leader who gets rich through cruel and scandalous business practices. The captains of industry is a business leader who wants to better the companies in a way that it would be positively contributing to the country.

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Throughout the late 1800s, many people grew tremendously in wealth. Most people started businesses or expanded railroads which required a lot of money. This start the idea of robber barons or captains of industry; while there were some people who would collect the money for themselves there were many people who gave back and did some great things for America. Therefore, industrialists of the 1860s-1900s were more rightly called Captains of Industry than robber barons. John D. Rockefeller, James Fisk, and Henry Flanger are some great examples of Captains of Industry.

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The men that built America have played an immense role in how we live today. One distinct example would be John D. Rockefeller. As a kid, he was always intrigued in how objects worked, which led him to becoming a very successful tycoon. Even though he was a very rich and a great industrialist, how he got there was unacceptable. There are two categories when coming to define a businessman: robber baron and captain of industry.

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The rise of Big Business and robber barons in the 19th century made social reforms and the progressive movement necessary. In the years following the Civil War, there was a rise in business in the U.S. According to US History, over 600,000 patents and inventions were made during this period, and several monopolies were formed. (pg512) Three of the largest were; Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller, Carnegie Steel, Andrew Carnegie, and the New York Central Railroad System which was owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt. These corporations operated under the rights promised individuals in our Constitution.

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Also, if you look at today’s society there is no over using that term the people in the 19th century were not use to people having great wealth and being over these big corporations, well we are. Robber Barons were seen as the portrayal of these big businessmen, as a warlike bandits, cheating and plundering their way to millions. It was any man with wealth over a big corporation that was considered a Robber Baron. But, that is not was a Robber Baron is! A Robber Baron is a ruthlessly powerful U.S. capitalist or industrialist considered to have become wealthy by exploiting natural resources, corrupting legislators, or other unethical means.

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Much like Steve Jobs, these men were the leading business Titans of their time. John D. Rockefeller, JP Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Andrew Carnegie were all some of the Titans that shaped and help modernize the nation that we know today by excelling in different industries and boosting America into the most modernized, and Industrialized

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