Blog #72 – Robber Barons or Captains of Industry
The robber barons / captains of industry are the way that the 19th Century industrialists have been portrayed throughout the past 150 years. Much of it depends upon the school of history that’s doing the interpretation.
The robber barons is a negative portrayal of people like Rockefeller and Vanderbilt who were ruthless and vindictive. They took over other businesses in a cruel manner and forced thousands of workers to work in terrible conditions and for low pay like Carnegie. 
They limited competition by buying other industries and ruthlessly crushing other companies. There were crooks like Jim Fisk and Jay Gould who tried cornering the gold market in 1869. They also printed phony RR stocks in order to defraud investors. RR magnate Jay Cooke boasted of how awesome the land next to his Northern Pacific RR was, but when investors bowed out of his scheme, his bank collapsed, triggering the Panic of 1873.
The captains of industry is a positive portrayal of industrialists shows these men as ingenuous, industrious, and fulfilling the American Dream. Some of these men like Carnegie and Rockefeller were lauded for their philanthropy. They exemplified the best of capitalism. These captains pushed America into the modern age, made products affordable, and could have exploited their monopolies by high prices but didn’t. J.P. Morgan was so powerful that he could have trashed the American economy and part of the world’s economy along with it if he so chose to, but he didn’t. In fact, when he died, America created the Federal Reserve Bank, its third and current attempt at a central bank.
Use the website below to research some of the major industrialists.
Your job: Analyze the discussion above and come up with your own analysis – which do you think fits the time period best? Is it a combo? Explain.
I believe that these men were Captains of Industry rather than Robber Barons. These men accomplished many things both individual and in through advancement of the country. They essentially built the strongest economy in the world for their time period. Each process that the men created offered not only more efficiency, more job opportunities, but also more financial opportunities. The example I am going to use is Carnegie. Carnegie grew up poor and far away from the world of luxury. His life just screams American Dream because he managed to rise from poverty and make something of himself, and gain crazy amounts of success. He built with steel and the process he used was revolutionary for the country and allowed for more jobs to be available. He created a process that advanced the nation in ways that are unimaginable. While he did all of this and obtained major wealth, he proved to be a captain of industry by donating his money to charity. While these men did have traits and actions that are questionable and could be used to support the other side of the argument, I still think that in order to be a captain of industry you have to have some risk taking qualities. Carnegie took risks through supporting Frick and his plan to break the Pullman strike, but I think he had to take those types of risks to get to where he wanted to be in terms of power. I don’t think men in this time period could be complete saints and captains of industry without a little sliver of robber baron qualities. I think you need a balance of both to truly be successful in this time period.
I think that these 19th Century industrialists were captains of Industry, not robber barons. I sat this because when you look back at their history, these guys helped the economy of the United States of America and even the world. They helped more then they hurt in my opinion. I do think they did some bad things but I don’t think our industries would be where they are today without the help of them. An example of them helping the economy is J.P. Morgan. He was the banker behind all of these industrial captains, he was the supporter. He believed in them and backed these guys up because he knew the potential in them and how they could be the key to American economic success. Without J.P. I don’t believe that the industrial revolution would have happened. These industrial captains may have done some bad things but today everyone uses their inventions like Edison’s light bulb, what would we do without that in our lives. The biggest captain out of all of them, in my opinion, was John D. Rockefeller. His Standard Oil monopoly on oil refining is a shows how great a true monopoly is and it shows how he was a fantastic business model. I think because of the huge monopoly and it being the biggest in history, shows that America and the world needed these industrial captains like Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, Carnegie, and Rockefeller to do what they did in order to progress the U.S. and the world. Without them it would definitely be different today than it is. So all in all I think these guys were Industrial captains.
I believe that the largest business leaders at the time, Rockefeller and Carnegie, were both robbers and the capitals of industrialization. Another important business man was J.P. Morgan, the banker behind it all. He went against his dads rules and directly invested into Thomas Edison and his lightbulb. With one of the wealthiest men in the world backing up one of the greatest invention, good things were bound to happen, like bring electricity to the public. Men like Carnegie monopolized the steel industry for the greater good of America. With Carnegie’s steel and some man power, cities were being extended up at very great rates. Another big business man at the, Rockefeller, monopolized a horizontal oil system. Rockefeller charged very cheap for their oil so it was available to the American public which is why he was a Capital of American business. With all the positive things they did for society, they also did a lot of negative things. Carnegie steel towns were in terrible conditions and some people thought they weren’t even capable to live in. The workers also were not payed as well as they should be until Henry Ford came around and re-invented the work force and system. Another bad thing was the leaders tended to run their business’ with the feudalism system, all of the money being ended up in the leaders bosses. These were the reasons why I believe that business leaders like Rockefeller and Carnegie were both robber barons, and capital business leaders of the time that made industrialization happen.
I believe that the economic leaders like Carnegie and J.P. Morgan were both Robber Barons and Captains of Industry. I think they are Robber of Barons because people these leaders treated their employees horribly. Their workers meant nothing to these leaders of industrialization and with low pay and no health benefits made it impossible to go from rag to riches. Horrible work conditions in some but not all factories made working a living hell, but if they said anything they would just be fired and replaced in seconds. These Robber Barons were also Captains of Industry because they lead the world in industry. They built America which inventions such as steel, railroads, cars and the light bulb. They owned the American economy and created jobs for your vast labor pool. For example Carnegie made steel, which not only created hundreds to thousands of jobs and supported almost 3,000 libraries. On top of all that you can say he built American cities with “new steel” that is used to build massive skyscrapers. Another Example of these leaders of industry is J.P. Morgan because he single handily bailed out America. When America was in the need of money they went to J.P. Morgan and he helped bail out America. The leaders on industry have their good side (Captains of Industry) and their bad sides (Robber Barons). They left their workers to rot but at the same time advanced America and the economy. These leaders of industry are needing to advance the world and the economy but came at the expense of the workers.
I believe that Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, and John Rockefeller were definitely captains of industry. Without them, there would have been no platform, no base for some of the things we have today. Their investments and inventions helped the economy of America grow stronger overall. Although, I also believe that Morgan, Rockefeller, and Carnegie were in a way robber barons, too. They unfairly paid some civillians to do their work for them, but all in all it paved the way for a new and more industrialized America. They all started at the bottom and worked their way to the top, so it isn’t like they were taught to mistreat people. They knew what it was like to be middle to lower class, especially Carnegie. He built steel plants with a new refining strategy. Rockefeller also had a sort of rags to riches story, becoming a major oil contributor. They weren’t perfect, but they weren’t bad people. Rockefeller donated money to a university. Carnegie made funds, libraries, and in the end gave up most of his money, and also wanted to break the Pullman Strike. We needed these people in that time period. JP Morgan was asked, not one, but two times, to bail the United States out of a depression. Another factor was that there weren’t a lot of good paying jobs, so options were limited. If the workers had better choices, they would take them, but no one else was providing. Overall, yes maybe these men were robber barons, but tthey needed to be to become captains of industry.
I believe that the company owners of the 19th century are a mix of both robber barons and captains of industry. Even though each of these men accomplished something different, they did it in a similar way. Andrew Carnige, for example, ran his company ruthlessly in the fact that he could hire and fire you in a second. He also would pay even his highest workers very little pay in return for their labor. Despite the fact that the work and pay conditions of Carniges empire, he also mixed in some of the prized qualities of a man who was a captain of industry. Carnige watched his company grow from the bottom up. Though his relationship with his father was Rocky and would have scared most out of the family business, Carnige prevailed, and took a chance on someone that no one else would. With Carniges stroke of luck, he created more than just a name for himself. He became a captain of industry by creating thousands of jobs for those who couldn’t get one anywhere else. The man who built america were prime examples of people who built themselfs from the bottom up working as both Robber Barons and Captians of industry
v I believe that the economic leaders of this time period were both robber barons and captains of industry due to their attributes in both characterizations. For example, John Rockefeller sought after a horizontal growth in just one part of the oil industry to avoid a complete monopoly on the industry. With his power, he was easily able to control the entire industry and take advantage of this monopoly for his own personal gain. Others like J.P. Morgan created more jobs within certain industries which benefitted the nation and companies more than the actual workers due to the poor conditions and low wages. This seems bad from a short term viewpoint, however Morgan was responsible for a large amount of the country’s economy and chose not to completely monopolize it for the benefit of the rich. Even though the conditions for the poor weren’t changing at all interns of wages, there were more necessary gains made with these created jobs in terms of economic improvement. These economic leaders were primarily captains of industry due to there simplistic views on industry, this is evident with the constant desire to eliminate competition through mergers and increase production. A prime example of the darker side of these economic greats is Cornelius Vanderbilt’s tendency to lower his wages until the the competition buys him out. This is just for his own personal gain and Vanderbilt had no consideration for his consumers or employees. considering he did this several times throughout different industries, nothing aside from making money was in mind for Vanderbilt.
I believe that the leaders of the industrial age deserved the titles of “Robber Barons”. They deserve this title because they purposefully halted the competitive nature of the American economy in their interests. By doing this, they turned many small businesses into extensions of their own, practically killing off any individuality within fields of competition. They often took particularly ruthless and merciless actions to force others out of business if they did not join their coalitions. They also stockpiled enormous amounts of money for personal use, which could have been used to make work conditions more favorable for their employees. Most workers in that time, particularly under Carnegie and Rockefeller, had very poor pay and working conditions. They often were left wanting in areas of need, such as suitable housing and food. Although they spent a lot of their money in philanthropical acts, they never spent it on the wellbeing of the American people. Carnegie is a good example, he donated a lot of his fortune at the end of his life, but he donated it to funding museums and high end music halls, which couldn’t be accessed by anyone but the wealthiest of Americans. The leaders of the industrial age did end advancing the American economy to become a world superpower, however to say that that was all that mattered, would be saying that the end was more important than the means. I am not of that belief, so while I acknowledge their accomplishments, I believe that they are “Robber Barons”.
The topic can be easily debated. I believe that the the title “Captain of industry” was simply a byproduct or their incessant desire for money. People innovated and sold to make money, and the only way that they could maximize the amount of money flowing in was to inadvertently cause society to technologically advance in order to gain an edge over their competitors; thus earning more money. They completely monopolized their industries to make the most possible income from each product. Although, their byproduct did help bring America to it’s current level of economic status. Without them, we would still be using relics of a past era as everyday uses. Or if the newer versions became prevalent in society, they would be extremely expensive. As it is right now, American citizen’s day is based on convenience. If they had been around today, we would not pause as we swooped up their products. That is what is happening today. Companies are outsourcing their jobs to third world countries, reducing their prices dramatically. Even though this is hurting our job market, we still purchase these products regardless. Monopolies are being forged in today’s economy. Comcast and Time warner are being merged and are going to dominate the market yet we do not care.
I believe that these men (Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Vanderbilt) were Captains of Industry in the 19th century. I believe that Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Vanderbilt were Captains of Industry because without these people, we would not be living in the world we live in today. Including electricity, railroads, oil, steel rails, etc. Even though his father did not believe in him, and said that electricity was not going to be a “big hit”, Carnegie went for it anyway. Carnegie believed in himself, and fought for what he believed and changed our world for the better. He found the American Dream, as did Rockefeller. He started off as a normal man, but set out for something, and created an oil empire. It achieved important economies, both home and abroad, by its large-scale methods of production and distribution. Rockefeller also controlled about 90% of the oil in America at one time. This shows that Rockefeller was a Captain of Industry with his huge oil empire, and went from “rage to riches”. Cornelius Vanderbilt is also a Captain of Industry. This is because he was the owner of the railroad that connected Chicago and New York. He also made steel rail use in railroads popular, which made railroads safer and more economical. Vanderbilt was one of the few railroad owners to be just and not to be considered a Robber Barron. Yes, Carnegie, Rockefeller, had their turns of being considered Robber Barons, but they mostly were considered Captains of Industry, and examples of the American Dream. That is why I believe that Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Vanderbilt were Captains of Industry during the 19th century.
It is my belief that the industry leaders were both disrespectful lias and also leaders of industry, depending on who they were, what actions they took while they were in control and who viewed them. Some- such as Rockefeller, Morgan and Carnegie- used the first industrial revolution to expand and captilaize the industry. They launched ideas like vertical and horizontal trade which sparked new jobs and created economical success for the entire country. Their outside of work donations helped and supported the United States as well. When Carnegie retired, he donated millions of dollars of his money to the public. These men were the industrial leaders as well as the Captains of Industry. There were, of course, industry leaders who had more robber like qualities- not beneficiary. These included men like Jim Fisk and Jay Gould, who are known for scheming. It was they who divided the social groups- the rich and the poor. It gave way for the ruined and poor reputation of industry leaders. Money scandals such as the Credit Mobilier fraud led to people regarding leaders as thieves who had only their own best interests. This wasn’t always the case, shown through people like JP Morgan. Morgan was prideful that his investments supported himself and consumers along Carnegie, whom donated millions to the public’s benefit. It cannot be said that all industry leaders in the Gilded Era were true to their motives but it isn’t fair to generalize all as robbers. Some were a hazard to the public and especially with the way they treated the working class. but some acted classy and true towards the working class and despite their wealth tried to get rid of the divide between the classes.
I believe that the two different points of the business world back then or mixed the robber barons and the captains of industry. People at Carnegie and Rockefeller were bad and good at some point. Carnegie only used his knowledge to gain his own until he had enough to survive and be successful, he then find them and libraries and gave needs for people.I will leave that in the robber barons they were self committed and they help themselves, until they got enough wealth to succeed in life. In the captains of industry perspective they were saucer this mirror of glass if you will after they receive their wealth and could fulfill their American dream. They helped many people and their needs so that the consumers could be happy. So they may have been looked upon as stingy or selfish but that was only for them to get their company moving to succeed. The cared about the consumers and I cared about people, such as Carnegie who founded many libraries and build them for the people.
I believe that the two different points of the business world back then or mixed the robber barons and the captains of industry. People at Carnegie and Rockefeller were bad and good at some point. Carnegie only used his knowledge to gain his own until he had enough to survive and be successful, he then find them and libraries and gave needs for people.I will leave that in the robber barons they were self committed and they help themselves, until they got enough wealth to succeed in life. In the captains of industry perspective they were saucer this mirror of glass if you will after they receive their wealth and could fulfill their American dream. They helped many people and their needs so that the consumers could be happy. So they may have been looked upon as stingy or selfish but that was only for them to get their company moving to succeed. The cared about the consumers and I cared about people, such as Carnegie who founded many libraries and build them for the people. If people such as Carnegie and Rockefeller did not care about the customers that they would not have had their business succeed for so long. If they only care about so much they would not care for the money that would need to help them get their business running, so I believe that the mixture in balance of both the robber barons and captains of industry perspective I would’ve made them such a successful person.
The question leads me in both directions so I have to say that they can be both robber barons and captains of industry. I was lead to this conclusion because being these great inavators they were a huge part in creating the economy of today and starting a revolution in the industries. But if you look at it from another side you can see how they made it to their fame they didn’t have clean hands. Making workers work for low wages and long period of times and harsh conditions. They were also captions of industry because they had low prices. But low prices mean they pay the workers less for what they are doing. It is hard to but them into one category because you can look at it from so many directions. They did great things for people but they didn’t do a great job on keeping their hands clean. You can’t say they are terrible people because for the world they helped the economy. When I look at it from my standard I am leaning towards the captains of industry. But the reasons I also think they robber barons is because they didn’t do everything with great intentions. Too sum it all up they changed things and most of it changes for good. But not always was it for the good. That is how I finally came to my conclusions of they are both robber barons and captains of industry.
I believe that men like JP Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller were Captains of Industry rather than Robber Barons. When you analyze these men, you see that they were the first people in America to do what they did and how they did it. These men were the first to own one whole industry, own 25% of the world’s economy or own all production of oil. To be the first people in America to have this much money and be so powerful, they started the industrial revolution so they shouldn’t be seen as robber barons. Without these men the Industrial Revolution wouldn’t started out with as big of a bang it did. Also, these men were big philanthropists and donated a big portion of their money to charities. They weren’t being selfish, and instead, began donating their money to others. These actions should be seen as how they were good, respectable people not selfish, greedy money makers. Another reason that these men were Captains of Industry is that they did not make their product only for the rich. John Rockefeller had so much oil that he loaned it to people, he wasn’t being materialistic and only letting the rich and powerful buy his oil. The same went for Andrew Carnegie and JP Morgan. JP Morgan once had control of an estimated 25% of the world’s economy and never did anything bad with that much power. When looking at these men throughout their lives, before becoming wealthy, and after, they did way more good for not only themselves but for America and its people. These men were Captains of Industry, not Robber Barons.
In my opinion, I feel that the aforementioned industrialists of the time were both a combination of captains of industry and robber barons. There’s no denying these industrialists revolutionized American economy. These mass industries made products affordable to the American public. The industrialists essentially had monopolies on their businesses in that they had zero competition. They could have very well set unreasonable proces for their products, and the public would still have to buy it. They pushed the American economy forward, rather than setting it back like they easily could have. JP Morgan for example was once the most powerful man on Earth. If he wanted to, he easily could’ve made a ton more money, not to mention cripple America and part of the world’s whole economies. He cared about the greater good of his country. Even rich people like Carnegie and Rockefeller gave away hundreds of millions of dollars, as they believed it was their duty to give money back to the poor and not to love excessively extravagantly. Expectantly, these men did not get to where they got to without any moral wrongdoings. These men had to take out the competition to become as successful as they were. They caused these competing businesses to fail and force to owners bankrupt. They were creating an America without small businesses. These huge industries also had a huge moral flaw, they took huge advantage of their workers. Thousands of people were working in awful conditions with unreasonably low pay. By not spending much money on workers, the business men were able to sell their products for cheap. By selling their products for cheap, other companies were unable to compete and were put out of business. A nasty but effective method. There are clear positives and negatives to what these industrialists did, and it’s near impossible to pick just one side.
I believe that the early 19th Century business tycoons such as Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Morgan should be viewed as captains of industry. Although they all had some flaws, such as monopolization and abuse of influence, they were the driving force that placed the United States on the world stage. Without the innovation of the whole “big business” idea, America might have never become the world superpower and economic powerhouse that it is today. This mere handful of people fixed American Capitalism, how could America have possibly competed on the international market when it was battling itself in the local markets? This is what captains of industry do, they innovate, then *capitalize*(hint) on a certain product. While companies like Standard Oil hung their shadow over the government, the benefits made by hosting the company outshines the public view of a monopolistic monster. Many of these same people worked and made their living because of companies, which aided in the urbanization of America, which then acted as a catalyst to America’s industrialization. People moved to cities to work, and the cities grew due to the increase of profit from residing companies and the population boost of incoming workers. I can’t really understand the idea of robbing people of their money, because none of the companies created their own currency as the Lowell Mills did, so it was the worker’s choice whether or not to buy from the company they worked for. That is another aspect of these captains of industry, by controlling large amounts of a specific product and mass producing it like Carnegie Steel, Standard Oil, and later on Henry Ford, the goods produced become more accessible to the public. New inventions and innovations could be mass produced so anyone can buy it, not the rich kid who hasn’t had to lift a finger throughout their entire life. Steel prices were dropped due to Carnegie’s vertical integration, oil was kept fairly low to prevent any competition from arising, and Henry Ford’s goal was to make the common man’s automobile. These pieces of evidence prove that business tycoons of the early 20th Century were captains of industry.
I think it is both Captains of Industry and Robber Barons. The Robber Barons were People such as Andrew Carnegie who would be ruthless and grasping. He would cut the wages of his workers who were making him millions. He would also crush unions. Robber Baron was John D. Rockefeller. He was a ruthless business man who monopolized all of the oil refining business owning 90% of it. Both Rockefeller and Carnegie were Horizontal and vertical businessman. Horizontal business men buyout the same kind of business or there competition. Carnegie and Rockefeller both bought out almost all of the competition. Vertical is when you own every phase of your product. They both owned the shipping, distribution, manufacturing, etc. of their respective businesses. With this said they were both also captains of industry. Carnegie also a Captain of industry. He was a very generous philanthropist and would give back to the poor of the community. He claimed to be for the common working man even though he would stop unions in their tracks. He gave back by building music halls and he is most known for him giving back Libraries to the community because the way he became so intelligent was by going to libraries and reading books and he thought it would have the same effect for the poor where these libraries were built. He built over 3000 of them and by the time of his death he had donated 3.5 billion dollars in today’s money. Rockefeller built colleges and gave most of his fortune away. The Rockefellers were viewed as Americas Royal family.
I believe that these men where captains of industry rather than robber barons. Men like Carnegie and Rockefeller where pioneers for the business world we have now. They were game changers, they advanced the country, pushing America forwarded past other countries. Andrew Carnegie was a self-made man, from a young age he was determined to bring himself wealth. He helped the common American man by creating tons of jobs. At the time of his death he gave away over $350 million, I would not call that selfish. John D. Rockefeller the world’s first billionaire, he helped shape America with donations to national parks, collages and many others. Even though Rockefeller monopolized the industry, there is no way American oil would have been as successful as it was without him. Then there is J. P. Morgan who like some of the others was a risk taker. One of his most memorable accounts was him taking a risk on Thomas Edison. He took a perilousness chance with electricity trying to make a name for himself. We can ask ourselves would electricity be advanced as it is without him. He was influential in so many parts of business, through the world. The businesses that these men drove shaped the American economy, J. P. Morgan bailed out the country when it was in dire need of economic help. These men sure held on to the idea of the American dream, they put America in the place it is today. With so much successes some bad parts usually come along to, but I think that the good outweighs the bad and these men where captains of industry.