Robber Barons and the Captains of Industry Made America's Economy of Today

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Recommended: Positive and negative effects of robber barons

Money makes the world go around so that people could either become rich or poor. The whole issue with businesses came up in the 18th-19th century and was created by two factions in US history, the Robber Barons and the Captains of Industry. These two are what made the way America’s economy it is today. The Robber Barons and the Captains of industry were both very similar but completely different with how they operated in the economic world. Robber Barons made wealth in a variety of ways but still maintained the sense of thieves from the way they attained their wealth and treated their people hence forth their name. The Robber Barons were considered a unlikable form of business because of the effect they had a negative effect on the community. The Robber Barons whole idea and purpose was to make money for themselves by means of which is immoral to society. Most of the money collected by Robber Barons were taken from the people and their community further proving that they had gained a lot if not most of their wealth from the people without giving back to their town. The Robber Barons would also have their workers working in extremely harsh conditions that were harmful to their health and mental state, only to be made worse by the wages they were getting paid. These businesses refused to see their workers as people; instead they saw their workers as parts of a machine that can always be replaced. This was partially the fault of 'Social Darwinism'. This meant that the most fit would succeed to become rich while others would not. This idea was created by Andrew Carnegie, a businessman of the steel industry, although the first intention was to make sure that government would stay out of the affairs of big businesses. Carnegie, a Capta...

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...ckefeller, in order to soften the appearance of him and his company, he also engaged in philanthropy and founded the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller foundation which helped educational institutions.
While it is true that these capitalists’ wealth widened the gap between the rich and poor, the discussion that these men were more like the leaders of a growing industry is even more valid. These Northern capitalists led the South away from the depending of farming for their economy, but more importantly, they used their wealth for the growth of America’s industry. If these men did not transfer their wealth towards philanthropist educational development, there would have been no idea for industrial development. And if the American industry could not develop, it would have never have risen to industrial excellence, which has made what our economy what it is now.

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