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U.S. economic growth late 19th century
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During the early 1900's three men arose from the populous to form a new breed of businessmen: the capitalist CEO. They were all men of who brought themselves from living lives of the ordinary, working, and dreaming of greater things, to actually living those dreams and conducting themselves in ruling over vast monetary empires. However, it has been discussed weather or not these men played important roles in the economical development of our country, or if they were just greedy men questing ever for the shine of gold, iron, oil, and the feel of cold cash between their fingers.
Morgan, Carnegie, and Rockefeller were all men who formed their empires off of related industries: oil, mining of iron, steel production, and the railroads. They employed vast forces of workers, foreign and domestic alike: paying them little with twelve, thirteen hours of work a day. There practices with horizontal capitalism enabled them to control huge areas of the market and draw money from literally thousands of sources whilst keeping eternal spending to almost nothing.
From they aspect that these men are icons in our society it is important to see that that set up a form of business that is so widely practiced it is almost impossible to find a CEO that does not run multiple parts in our market. Basically these men set a viable mold for present day economics. For example the companies of MSN, NBC, MSNBC, Time Warner Cable, Warner Bros, CNN and many more are all owned and operated by the same group of people. However, there are many other issues that stem from this control of such economical giants that will have to be touched on during some latter date.
On the contrary, it appears disgusting to many, many people that a few old, rich, white-men, control so much of the wealth in one nation, and use that wealth to further their own assets by manipulating the government, beating out competition, and screwing over employees, middle, and lower income class families alike. Or at least that aspect seems disgusting to me.
More often than not, America’s antebellum capitalists are accused of being the “robber barons” of industrial America. The misconception is that these men took advantage of a naïve and growing economy and reaped its benefits without giving anything in return. True, the majority of America was poor in comparison to the few elites, but the philanthropist efforts and contributions of these men can not be denied. If not for these men and their efforts, there would have been no one to pave the road to America’s industrial domination.
Andrew Carnegie, the monopolist of the steel industry, was one of the worst of the Robber Barons. Like the others, he was full of contradictions and tried to bring peace to the world, but only caused conflicts and took away the jobs of many factory workers. Carnegie Steel, his company, was a main supplier of steel to the railroad industry. Working together, Carnegie and Vanderbilt had created an industrial machine so powerful, that nothing stood in its path. This is much similar to how Microsoft has monopolized the computer software
characterizes the capitalists who shaped post-Civil War industrial America and it is valid that they would be properly distinguished as corrupt “robber barons”.
Both Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller dominated giant corporations, but they dictated much of the employees and greatly tried to divide out the employees from desperately trying to organize the reforms that would essentially stop the robber barons from taking advantage of them. The robber barons insisted that if you cannot work the day you are supposed to other than the Fourth of July, some other person will be a willing participant to come and take your job. The economy was dramatically failing because the wealth had been handed out unfairly and much the industry workers in the mining factories decimated during the accidents that occurred in those horrible working conditions. Due to the corruption of the government in the Gilded age, which lasted from the 1870 to the 1900s, most of the working class poor were barely struggling to stay alive and more family members had no choice but go into the labor force to provide for the family. The robber barons were held with much hostility in the society of American Capitalism. The society tried to look at the world in a scientific perspective that according to Social Darwinist’s theory in America, the human society was viewed in regards to the working class poor and the issues of poverty as a result of their own failure, the lack
The industrial leaders, Robber Barons, of the 19th century are men who are very respected and admired. Andrew Carnegie was a boy from Scotland who came over to this country with nothing. He continued to save and work his way up in the industry until he had complete control over the steel industry. John D. Rockefeller was also one who came from an ordinary home. When he saw an opportunity, he took it, along with the risks. He came to control the oil industry. Another man that took many opportunities to expand and grow was Cornelius Vanderbilt. These men saw what they needed to do to become successful and they did it. These men's' lives reflected the Darwinian ideology of the times, "survival of the fittest".
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.
———. “Robber Barons or Captains of the Industry.” History Now. Accessed December 7, 2011. Last modified June 2010. http://www.gilderlehrman.org.
John D. Rockefeller and other members of his family produced the fuel that powered America and Europe. In fact, 85% of the world's kerosene supply was produced in a company of Rockefeller's in Pennsylvania. J.P. Morgan, a giant in finance was equally successful by capitalizing small businesses and taking private corporations public. His genius for investing and financing was known world-wide. Because of Morgan and investors like him the American economy grew at a rate that the world had not seen before. His "Gentlemen's Agreement" brought stability to a railroad industry that was unstable because of it's incredible growth. The agreement regulated rates, settled disputes and imposed fines for companies that did not abide by the terms of their contracts. J.P. Morgan helped create a centralized banking system and paved the way for what was to become The Federal Reserve. Henry Ford a corporate giant in transportation built the Ford Motor Company and
ownership participations. This was enough to make them millionaires in their own right. He also gave back by funding over 2,500 libraries throughout America. Carnegie managed to give away 90 percent of his wealth before he died. He was able to make sure that the people around him were happy financially so that they could all work happily and achieve success together.
The captain of industries were businessmen who also benefitted society through their accumulation of wealth, using methods such as increased productivity, the expansion of markets, offering up new jobs to the working class, and other acts of generosity. All of the notable industrialists dubbed “robber barons” were also named “captain of industries” as well. Therefore, there have been many debates as to whether the term “robber barons” really did justice to the industrialists, when taking into account of their effects on America’s economy, and not just the negative aspects. While the robber barons did harm specific groups of people in order to meet their selfish goals, as well as execute ruthless tactics to surpass their competitors, they have also created an economic boom in which they created larger manufacturing companies, created many employment opportunities for the working class. Even though robber barons went to extreme measures and harmed others in their pursuit of wealth, they have also, and built a stable and prosperous
People like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan are men who possessed the intellect, the foresight, and most importantly the work ethic to become powerful industrialists. These men displayed their work ethic to the country by being ruthless and tireless. They started something so important that a hundred years later it is still making a huge contribution to our country (Maury Klein pg. 32). What they started was the industrial revolution. Today our country is the most powerful in the world because of our great wealth.
During the nineteenth and twentieth century monopolizing corporations reigned over territories, natural resources, and material goods. They dominated banks, railroads, factories, mills, steel, and politics. With companies and industrial giants like Andrew Carnegies’ Steel Company, John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company and J.P. Morgan in which he reigned over banks and financing. Carnegie and Rockefeller both used vertical integration meaning they owned everything from the natural resources (mines/oil rigs), transportation of those goods (railroads), making of those goods (factories/mills), and the selling of those goods (stores). This ultimately led to monopolizing of corporations. Although provided vast amount of jobs and goods, also provided ba...
John D. Rockefeller, born on July 8, 1839, has had a huge impact on the course of American history, his reputation spans from being a ruthless businessperson to a thoughtful philanthropist (Tarbell 41). He came from a family with not much and lived the American dream, rising to success through his own wit and cunning, riding on the backs of none. His legacy is huge, amassing the greatest private wealth of any American in history. Rockefeller’s influence on our country has been both a positive and a negative one, he donated huge sums of money to various public institutions and revolutionized the petroleum industry. Along with all the positives to the country, Rockefeller also had many negative affects as well, including, by gaining his riches by means of a monopoly, often using illegal methods, by giving others a reason to frown upon capitalism, and by hurting smaller businesses.
Andrew Carnegie, also known as the king of steel, was arguably one of the richest men in the Industrial era. Andrew was a leading industrialist with his development of Carnegie Steel, and also a well known philanthropist, for the amount of public work he did to help make the United States a better place. Throughout Carnegie’s life he worked many different jobs to help him establish a businessmen’s mind set, which helped make him become one of the greatest success stories of American history.
...s. These three men read book after book and educated themselves further to reach their goals and dreams even when people never thought it would be possible. Benjamin Franklin did not need to go to college to influence and educate the public with his writings. Henry Ford it made it possible for the average people to go places with their own vehicle. Andrew Carnegie used his success and money to influence others. These three men have shown me the drive, the aggressiveness, the love they had to build their careers. In order to have the American Dream you have to want it and never stop fighting for it.