There has long been a debate no whether the capitalists of the late 19th century to early 20th century (such as Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc.) were “captains of industry” who looked to better the budding country or corrupt “robber barons” who only looked after themselves. One needs to take a good long look back into this time period to uncover the truth of the matter; however, once one does this, it becomes quite apparent that the later of the two is quite factual while the former falls flat on its face. It is quite easy to see that the capitalists who shaped post-civil War industrial America were corrupt robber barons who rode their success of the backs of the poor laborers under them, the robber barons would thrive in the areas of economics,
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He economically strained the nation as can be seen in Henry George’s Progress and Poverty, 1879 ; this document states that the wealthy class A.K.A. the robber barons only became more wealthy, as the laboring class became more dependent on the upper class. Rockefeller contributed to this by his method of horizontal integration, where he would buy out all of his competitors; this restricted workers in the oil field from leaving his company, allowing him to gouge their wages as he pleased. Rockefeller, along with many other capitalists of this time, believed in social darwinism which states that the upper class earned their fortune from their tireless endeavors and the lower class deserved to be poor …show more content…
P. Morgan made his money in banking at first, he would buy failing industries and turn them around, owning the whole industry eliminated any competition for him to face, allowing him to maximize his profits. Morgan bought out Carnegie’s steel tubing company, forming the United States Steel Corporation, the first billion dollar company in the world; in doing this, he monopolized the steel industry, this allowed him to maintain an iron grip on his workers wages and the longevity of their work days. Morgan also bought the New York Times, this empowered him to push his agendas on the nation if he saw fit; this could allow for him to spread his beliefs of social Darwinism, or many other things to sway the masses in his favor. The New York times also helped him change the culture of this time to be more accepting of he and other robber barons questionable actions in industry. C. D. Warner, “The South Revisited,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, March 1887 shows how Carnegie changed the culture of the time; the author of the article is joyed over the fact that everyone he sees is working, even children. The robber barons, such as Carnegie, led people to believe that it was fine to deprive children of education for the sake of “wealth by
He economically strained the nation as can be seen in Henry George’s Progress and Poverty, 1879 ; this document states that the wealthy class A.K.A. the robber barons only became more wealthy, as the laboring class became more dependent on the upper class. Rockefeller contributed to this by his method of horizontal integration, where he would buy out all of his competitors; this restricted workers in the oil field from leaving his company, allowing him to gouge their wages as he pleased. Rockefeller, along with many other capitalists of this time, believed in social darwinism which states that the upper class earned their fortune from their tireless endeavors and the lower class deserved to be poor …show more content…
P. Morgan made his money in banking at first, he would buy failing industries and turn them around, owning the whole industry eliminated any competition for him to face, allowing him to maximize his profits. Morgan bought out Carnegie’s steel tubing company, forming the United States Steel Corporation, the first billion dollar company in the world; in doing this, he monopolized the steel industry, this allowed him to maintain an iron grip on his workers wages and the longevity of their work days. Morgan also bought the New York Times, this empowered him to push his agendas on the nation if he saw fit; this could allow for him to spread his beliefs of social Darwinism, or many other things to sway the masses in his favor. The New York times also helped him change the culture of this time to be more accepting of he and other robber barons questionable actions in industry. C. D. Warner, “The South Revisited,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, March 1887 shows how Carnegie changed the culture of the time; the author of the article is joyed over the fact that everyone he sees is working, even children. The robber barons, such as Carnegie, led people to believe that it was fine to deprive children of education for the sake of “wealth by