Robber Barons Dbq

Firstly in document one, it shows an interview with William H. Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt explains that the railroads are for the benefit of the stockholders and not for the benefit of the consumer. He also says “We only run it because we are forced to do so by the action of the Pennsylvania road. It doesn’t pay expenses. We would abandon it if it was not for our competitor keeping its train on.” like it is a pain for his business to do something that is not making any money. He even says that “the public be damned. What does the public care for the railroads except to get as much out of them for as small consideration as possible?” going even further and saying that the public does not care about his product. In document three which is an article

named “Wealth” by Andrew Carnegie, he explains that “it is to law that we owe our wonderful material development which brings improved conditions. He also goes to say that “the law may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures survival of the fittest.” which he believes thins out the weak and makes the strong stronger. In document five it shows a political cartoon depicting an octopus (Standard Oil Co.) grabbing the Capitol Building, the White House, a trade ship, and Supreme Court Justices. The tentacles grabbing these things are showing that the octopus (Standard Oil Co.) is controlling all aspects of the United States government as well as it controls commerce by having a monopoly on oil in the United States.
Secondly, document two is a letter written by Thomas Edison that explains his factory to an investor and how superior it will be to the other factories. He goes on to say, “you are aware from your long acquaintance with me that I do not fly any financial Kites, or speculate, and that the works I control are well managed.” telling the investor that he or she is not wasting money and will get a return on their investment. Document four backs up both parts of the thesis by explaining to the reader that the trusts are “monopolies organized to destroy competition and restrain trade.” The author goes on to say “They limit the price of the raw material so as to impoverish the producer, drive him to a single market, reduce the price of every class of labor with the trade, throw out of employment large numbers persons who had before been engaged in a meritorious calling and finally . . . they increase the price to the consumer.” This whole article explains the corruption in big business and how they are only out to make a buck. This transitions into document six where it is the statement of the Pullman Strikers, it explains that he makes other railroad car companies lower their wages so he has justification to lower his wages. Then they call on the American Railway Union to do something about this—which they do not—and then the United States army gets called in to resolve the issue.
Thirdly, document one is an interview with William H.

Vanderbilt written in 1882, during the peak of his wealth. The intended audience is the common folk of the United States, The way the document states the interview it makes it seem as if Vanderbilt is an evil man which in a way he was but at the same time he was a heavy philanthropist, funding Vanderbilt University. The purpose of this article is to show that the robber barons are greedy and are very stuck up about their business. Document two takes place in 1887 where Thomas Alva Edison is striving for a new factory to increase the efficiency of the manufacturing of the light bulb. He writes this to an investor in order to get the sufficient amount of funds to build the factory. He wants to build this factory in order to attempt to gain a monopoly on the light bulb industry. Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the light bulb so he wanted to mass produce it to make a lot of money. In document four, it is 1892 and the robber barons have become mainstream and people are worried about labor unions. The author’s intended audience is to the people of Congress. He writes it in order to inform and hopefully persuade representatives in Congress to do something about these robber barons. James Weaver ran for president twice and he probably pushed for labor unions due to this article and that is probably what made him lose because no major business would want to fund

him.
Finally, Jay Gould who started out as a small-time businessman moved to New York City to trade stocks. In a time of unregulated stock trading, Gould quickly learned tricks such as “cornering”—having the greatest share in a particular industry without having a monopoly, as well as, obtaining sufficient control of a particular stock, commodity, or other asset in an attempt to manipulate the market price—and quickly accumulated a fortune. Gould was considered extremely unethical and was widely known to bribe politicians and judges. Gould was involved in the struggle for the Erie Railroad in the late 1860s and in 1869 he and his partner Jim Fisk attempted to corner the stock market on gold. Robber Barons were manipulative and greedy and wanted complete control over their workers and over everything they owned. They did anything to make money as well as do anything for their own benefit.