Clow? Sour cream? LOGGER? BORROWING VODKA?!
Alaina Antonelli
Period 6
Captains of Industry or Robber Barons?
Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were two of the biggest “captains of industry” during the late 1800s. In changing time of industrialization and new inventions, Rockefeller and Carnegie managed to stay ahead of the game and worked to become the richest and most powerful men they could be. John D. Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Company in 1870 which is how he accumulated his fortune, while Andrew Carnegie made his millions expanding his steel business, creating the Carnegie Steel Company 1889. While both men made great improvements in both of their fields and did many good things for the growth of industry, these men seemed to be more robber barons than the “captains of industry” many people saw them as.
The term “captain of industry” was a way of saying that these business leaders served their nation in a positive way. There is no denying that these men were not captains of industry. For example, Carnegie and Rockefeller followed Carnegie’s “gospel of wealth”, which is the idea that a person is free to make as much money as possible, but after making it they should give it away. John D. Rockefeller had given over $500 million to charities and institutions by the end of his life. It was his way to help benefit humanity. He founded the Rockefeller Foundation, which gave aid to institutions working in fields of public health, the arts, social research and more. Andrew Carnegie also gave away a large amount of money to help benefit humanity. More than 80% of his money went to a form of education. He had donated money to nearly 3,000 free public libraries worldwide. He also set up a fund to study how to abolish war and supported artistic and research institutes. By his death, he had donated near $350 million.
Along with donating their money to just causes, these two men also found new ways to make products cheaper. Carnegie used the Bessemer Process, a process which eliminates impurities from steel and makes steel more efficiently. This made possible the mass production of steel, which helped Carnegie make his fortunes. The businesses of Carnegie and Rockefeller created jobs for immigrants and people needing work after the war, and steel and oil helped improve transportation (with the growing want for railroads). People would also argue that the simplified business (one big business) improved efficiency, because all of the products could be found in one place. But, while these men were moving along with the industrialization, their ways of gaining their millions were not the most honest or just ways of getting to where they wanted to be.
The other side of this argument is that Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were robber barons, which they seem to be more of than captains of industry. The term “robber baron” is basically saying that the business leaders built their fortunes by stealing from the public. This can go back to how these two men found new ways to make products cheaper. While the products were being made cheaper, this ultimately raised the prices of the products, which meant that the consumer had to pay more for something that didn’t cost nearly as much to make. The reason why Rockefeller and Carnegie were able to raise the prices of their products was due to their simplified businesses. Rockefeller and Carnegie were basically in charge of most of the oil and steel businesses due to their monopolies and mergers. Because there was nowhere else to turn for these products, and these were products that people needed, these men knew that they could raise the prices as much as they wanted because the people only had them to rely on for it. Also with these simplified businesses came the wiping out of smaller businesses. Carnegie and Rockefeller basically destroyed their competitors, working men who needed their businesses to survive. These men were knocking others out of their work. This brings up the point of working conditions, since most of their former competitions were looking for work and probably had to turn to these captains of industry. While these men brought lots of opportunities for jobs to the working class, the conditions in which they worked under were not the greatest. There were very poor working conditions in the companies of Carnegie and Rockefeller. They were hiring men, women and children to work for them and paying them low wages. During work, employees of Rockefeller and Carnegie and other captains of industry were having accidents all over the place. In garment businesses, hands would be penetrated by needles going through the flesh. In meat packing factories, workers would fall into the meat grinders and die. There were many injuries and accidents in these companies, and even deaths. The factory owners broke the law, with child labor and monopolies and also with political corruption. But, the government rarely stepped in, due to the fact that most captains of industry knew the politicians and helped pay for their campaigns. And, even though these men helped establish foundations and encouraged education, little of their generosity helped the working people, who needed the money the most. All of Carnegie’s and Rockefeller’s unjust ways of making it to the top led to strikes and unions in the workplace, which sometimes led to violence.
There is no denying that Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were partly “captains of industry” who helped improve industrialization and helped push forward a new way of life. But, more than they were captains of industry, these men were robber barons, who used unjust methods to make them the most successful and richest men that they could be.
Sources:
1. America: Pathways to the Present, Prentice Hall, Cayton, Perry, Reed, Winkler, copyright: 2003 p.468, 473