America was built on the solid foundation of industry and growth of society. Innovators were a vital factor to produce factories, jobs, and help make life and production simpler. Key historical figures that made a difference were Andrew Carnegie, J.P Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller. The road of success for each individual set a tone for America and made the relationships amongst labor unions and workers an important one. Over time America shaped itself into the biggest money marketing empire in the world. Through, entrepreneurs and broad spectrum ideas this made the dreams into realities. Competition has continued to make conflict within industries and how they are ran. Laws and regulations within workforce scenarios are vital to stabilizing the business.
Andrew Carnegie-
Influential figures such as Andrew Carnegie were apart of the industrial revolution in America. Through factory growth and new ways to internationalize industry amongst other countries. Andrew Carnegie was one of the wealthiest men of the 19th
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Century, through his various endeavors as an industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835. He was born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, where he moved with his family to America at the age of thirteen(The Homestead Strike). They moved to Allegheny, Pennsylvania where he quickly got a job as a factory worker. At this time it was common for a boy of this age to have already been working for a few years. The amount he got paid for a whole week of work was $1.20. By 1853, Carnegie obtained a job at the railroads. The next year he found a job as a telegraph messenger. He then got a promotion as a telegraph operator. He then took a job at the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1853. Carnegie then worked as the assistant and telegrapher. Through these jobs and experience he gained, he was able to accumulate background knowledge within the railroad industry. With his experience and skills in only three short years he was offered a job as a superintendent for the railroads. As his skills and management skills progressed, Carnegie also advanced in making smart investments for the company. He mainly prospered in the production of oil and made a lot of revenue due to his successes. Carnegie left the railroad business around 1855, after he focused on his steel corporation. He had the biggest steel corporation in the world at this time. The company in Homestead, Pennsylvania, tried to lower the worker's wages. Workers were outraged by this and protested against this. This was the start of a chain reaction to the start of labor unions. Workers no longer wanted to work and created tension in the workplace. The Homestead Act of 1892 put most the blame on Carnegie for being corrupt. Many people despised him and felt he was apart of the wealthy taking advantage of the poor. Carnegie's processes and ways of production changed the steps of production for future entrepreneurs. J.P. Morgan- By 1900 Carnegie was ready to sell his steel business, and he ended up selling it to J.P. Morgan for $400 million. J.P. Morgan had effective ways of running his business. Many factors that played into his success was his wealthy background within his family. His father helped him establish himself in the money market. A tactic he used to expand his holdings and other companies, was to sell stock for greater than its worth. These successful trials he ran, led him to ultimately plunge into the United States Steel Corporation. In 1901, the steel corporation became the first billion-dollar company in America. Morgan took pride in his financial endeavors and aimed to be one of the greatest business personnel. Morgan specialized in being an investment broker and through his career advances he ultimately owned Wall Street banking house. This played a major role in the expansion and reorganization of railroads all across America. The main tactic Morgan used was creating a monopoly through his steel monopoly. He eliminated his competition by driving or buying out other businesses. Materials and raw goods that made manufacturing product possible were things he made sure to be apart of. This way he would be in charge of every process of production. He benefited financially from this but created more of a divide in the small town business owners. Industrialization in America was ran by few wealthy Americans but the growth or industrialization was the need for competition. John D. Rockefeller- John D. Rockefeller gained his success in the Standard Oil industry. His company was worth over one million and founded in Pennsylvania. He was driven by competition and that pushed him to be aggressive in competing. He would persuade his competition and have them join him then slowly take over their company. His advancement in wealth gave him power over small businesses with little to no protection. He would do things like temporarily lowering prices of oil and drive them out of business. He felt it was his right to take over since he had the resources to do so. Labor Unions- The spark of labor unions arose when the workers and the work force were put to the brink.
Industry was on demand because of industrial figures such as; Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller. As industry picked up and the economy grew everyone was affected whether it was for the better or not. Successful entrepreneurs created a diversification in industry and broke up the different classes of Americans. This diversification broke up the haves and the haves not of America. By 1900, ten percent of Americans owned seventy-five percent of the nation's wealth. Through considerably corrupt actions like monopoly, this gave successful business owners an advantage to control every part of production. By doing this they were able to establish how the company was ran and even had control over wages. Workers’ were outraged at the fact they had no say in the matter. Due to being overworked and paid little, workers created labor unions to fight
back. A main concern that affected workers was workplace conditions. At this time the government did not back up labor workers. Many accidents and unhealthy conditions affected the workers and their ability to do their job. Forming labor unions created security and back bone to workers and their rights. America being one of the biggest manufacturers of it’s time made it important to defend workers and their requests. Many people were unskilled so that made them expendable in the line of production. Most jobs were replaced by machines and cheap labor was an advantage to owners. In response labor workers set up various types of protests and strikes against the injustice they felt about their work situations. Well known labor unions in America were organizations such as Knights of Labor, LNU, and the AFL. These organizations split into different issues and beliefs that they wanted to focus on. Not just anybody could join these groups but many accepted members to gain publicity and bring light to their organization. The first labor union was the LNU. This group not only involved in overcoming resistance from the corporations, but also cultural divisions within the working class itself. Many workers were inspired to get their voice heard and participated in events. This group lasted six years and obtained 600,000 members throughout the years. In the Knights of Labor they had an aggressive approach to their protests. Their main focus was to restore wage cuts and through victories they also increased their number of members. By 1886 they nearly 700,000 devoted members.
During this era, businesses supplied large amounts of employment for citizens which created power for these businesses. They had the power to provide bad working conditions, lower wages, and fire their employees without any justification (Doc 1). George E. McNeill, a labor leader, states how “whim is law” and one can not object to it. The government took a laissez-faire approach and refused to regulate economic factors. This allowed robber barons and business tycoons to gain more authority of each industry through the means of horizontal and vertical integration. It wasn’t until later in the time period that the government passed a few acts to regulate these companies, such as the ICC and the Sherman Antitrust Act. One of the main successful industries was
Andrew Carnegie, was a strong-minded man who believed in equal distribution and different forms to manage wealth. One of the methods he suggested was to tax revenues to help out the public. He believed in successors enriching society by paying taxes and death taxes. Carnegie’s view did not surprise me because it was the only form people could not unequally distribute their wealth amongst the public, and the mediocre American economy. Therefore, taxations would lead to many more advances in the American economy and for public purposes.
Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller: Captains of industry, or robber barons? True, Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller may have been the most influential businessmen of the 19th century, but was the way they conducted business proper? To fully answer this question, we must look at the following: First understand how Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller changed the market of their industries. Second, look at the similarities and differences in how both men achieved dominance.
Andrew Carnegie, the “King of Steel”, the benevolent employer, the giant of industry, was among the greatest influences of the second industrial revolution. It is sometimes questioned whether Carnegie was the ruthless, sneaky steel tyrant some made him out to be, or the generous, benevolent education benefactor he appeared to be. I believe him to be a combination of both, but more so the great giant of industry.
In the late nineteenth century known as the Gilded Age (or the Reconstruction period) and the early twentieth century known as the Progressive era, the nation went through great economic growth and social change. Beginning from the 1870s, there was rapid growth in innovations and big businesses. This could be because there was population growth and when there is population growth, there is a high demand of products and other necessities in order to strive in society. Many immigrants from Europe, mostly from the eastern and southern Europe, and Asia moved to American cities. Additionally, farmers from rural America desired to increase economically in society and since corporations ruled and political problems occurred, they decided to move into the cities. Afterwards, the 1900s started with the dominance of progressivism which many Americans tried to improve and solve the problems that were caused or had arisen because of the industrialization of the Gilded Age. It was basically the time when progressives fought for legislations like regulation of big businesses, end of the political corruption, and protection of the rights of the people: the poor, immigrants, workers, and consumers. Thus, between the periods 1870 to 1920, big businesses had arisen and taken control of the political and economic systems through corruption and innovations. In response, American citizens reacted negatively and formed labor unions and political systems to diminish the power that large corporations had in America.
In Harold C. Livesay’s Andrew Carnegie and the rise of Big Business, Andrew Carnegie’s struggles and desires throughout his life are formed into different challenges of being the influential leader of the United States of America. The book also covers the belief of the American Dream in that people can climb up the ladder of society by hard work and the dream of becoming an influential citizen, just as Carnegie did.
To describe John D. Rockefeller in one word would be an extremely difficult, if not impossible thing to do. Rockefeller was known by so many things in his time and still today; a captain of industry who revolutionised the American economy with new business practices and keen management of what he controlled, a robber baron who lied and cheated his way to the top with back room dealings and taking advantage of the most disadvantaged of people. In his early life, Rockefeller grew up in Richmond, New York with his two brothers and two sisters about 20 years before the start of the Civil War as the child of Eliza Davison and William Avery Rockefeller. His father was con artist who spent most of John’s life traveling selling his various elixirs and his mother was a devout Baptist who John said shaped his life and most of his religious views for the rest of his life. Towards the end of his life, Rockefeller had built up a beyond substantial fortune but, seeing as how he was now retired from the oil industry and had no desire to invest into a new business, he decided to follow Andrew Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth by donating the bulk of his wealth to charity. John D. Rockefeller was truly a man who was almost undefinable despite the simple black and white labels that most people and historians have pinned upon him, as we examine his life it can be determined that Rockefeller was neither an evil man nor a good one but someone who lived his life in the grey.
...ay to the rise of big business. Americas population was increasing, many citizens were employed and making money, and more eager to spend. Some of the businesses got too big and antitrust acts, such as the Sherman anti-trust act, were passed to control the powers of monopolies and their owners. Not only were there monopolistic companies in the corporate world, there were monopolies in the railroad business as well. The control of railroads became an issue in politics over the abuses and operations of the rail systems. Soon, the federal agencies Interstate Commerce Commission was formed as the first regulatory agency to control private businesses in the public?s interest. More and more control was placed upon Americas businesses and corporations and from this grew unions, as well as conflicts between management and labor, all of which exist today.
The first key player in the American industrial revolution was Francis Cabot Lowell. In 1810, in Waltham, Massachusetts, Lowell was responsible for building the first American factory for converting raw cotton into finished cloth. Large factories were built along the river to house the new water driven power looms for weaving textiles. At the same time that more factories were built to keep up with the growing demands of the consumer, the numbers of immigrants to the United States grew (Kellogg). This new labor force could be employed with even less pay and provided with a much lower standard of housing. This in turn increased the profit margi...
The United States’s industrialization lead to a great boom in both economic and population growth, allowing businesses to flourish. With more money and workers at their disposal, employers often would often mistreat workers, suddenly cutting their wages or firing them. With only profit in mind, industries eventually became monopolized and the conditions of workers only worsened. Defenseless and barely able to survive, laborers soon found power in uniting with each other, leading to the establishment of American labor unions during the Gilded Age. They provided workers with necessary protection from their employers’ capricious decisions, and while their presence elicited fear in business owners, unions eventually bettered the standard of living for the American proletarian through compromise.
Andrew carnegie was an obvious Captain of Industry. He was born into a family that was very poor, his father was a weaver that nothing big was expected to come from little Andrew. However, soon came the Industrial revolution, and with that, came more machinery. So much machinery in fact, that Carnegie’s dad got replaced and fired from his weaving job, because of these machines. Soon, his father found himself begging for jobs to be able to help his family. The family became so poor in fact that Carnegie's mother had to start working to help support the family.Carnegie once said "I began to learn what poverty meant."
The Industrial Revolution was the major advancement of technology in the late 18th and early 19th century that began in Britain and spread to America.The national and federal government helped the United States grow into a self reliant nation with improvements in transportation, technology, manufacturing and the growth of the population.
There have been many wealthy men Throughout American history, many have been the topic of many heated debates among them, Andrew Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie at one time was the richest man in the world, who immediately after gaining that title began giving his money away. The impact and size of Carnegie’s philanthropic efforts are undeniable, but why he gave so much has been a topic of debate for nearly a century now. Carnegie’s rags to riches story is the epitome of the American dream and has been an inspiration to many entrepreneurs around the world.
Throughout the course of U.S history, there have been various challenges amongst groups for dominance of state policy. In the late 19th century, and early 20th century, the Big Business people (Corporations), and the Industrial workers competed for power. This time in history was very revealing to the fact that workers weren’t treated fairly, and business magnates were simply focused on making money. These business magnates went on to control almost every aspect of business and as a result impacted and molded American life, and government decisions.
The second half of the 19th century introduced a new style of enterprise to America, Big Business. The 19th century values of work and of being an independent business man clashed with the modern 20th century values of extreme expansion with large work forces and of earning the most money possible. The rise of the robber barons and the captains of industry helped the economy by pushing America into first place in the production of several products and by creating many new jobs. Although these new opportunities appealed to the masses, not everyone was satisfied by his new occupation. The creation of labor unions was a reaction to the numerous complaints about working conditions, wages, and work hours. The first unions protested with peace and reason. Once they realized that nothing could be accomplished through negotiation, drastic measures were taken and violence was the answer to their problems. The clashes between management and workforce in the Great Railroad Strike, Homestead Strike, and Pullman Strike emphasize these crises that were resolved through force and destruction.