Robber Barons VS Captains of Industry

The essential question for this lesson was, should Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller be classified as robber barons or captains of industry. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Andrew Carnegie dominated the steel industry while John D. Rockefeller controlled oil. Many argue that these men are both captains of industry and robber barons. A robber baron is a ruthlessly powerful industrialist that only became wealthy by exploiting natural resources, corrupting legislators, or other unethical means. A captain of industry, the opposite of a robber baron, is a business leader who accumulated a personal fortune that contributes positively to the country in someway and drove the Industrial change that swept the nation allowing the U.S. to emerge as a world power.

To start off this lesson we watched 6 mini videos as a class. We divided the class into 4 groups and each group had to take notes of 4 different categories. One group was assigned main ideas, one group was assigned key people, one group was assigned important events, and one group was assigned essential terms. My group was assigned main ideas. We created a google docs and contributed our notes into it. After finishing the videos, we analyzed Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller's biographies. As a class, we then came up with an essential question for the lesson that we could then write a blog post about.

I believe Rockefeller shows traits of both a robber baron and a captain of industry and should not be categorized as just one. John D. Rockefeller helped to create the American petroleum industry and is known as one of the greatest business leaders in American history. In John D. Rockefeller’s biography it is shown that he could be a robber baron when it says that his ruthless and cutthroat business practices brought him tremendous wealth. Some cutthroat practices included selling oil at a loss and then after the competitor collapsed driving the prices up and also bribing politicians. The public was convinced that everything he did was motivated by greed. Rockefeller grew the Standard Oil Company by keeping production costs down, obtaining favorable rates from the railroads in the form of rebates, engaging in occasional price slashing, and buying out competitors. In addition, many thought that Rockefeller and his associates used illegal tactics and immoral business practices. On the other hand, he could be seen as a captain of industry. Rockefeller gave away more than $500 million. His biography states, “He gave money to Spelman College in Georgia to educate African-American women and funded the University of Chicago (ultimately giving it $80 million).” The cartoon below shows the Standard Oil company as an octopus crushing its competitors including the steel, copper, and shipping industries, as well as a state house, the U.S. Capitol, and the White House.

I also believe Andrew Carnegie shows traits of both a robber baron and a captain of industry and should not be categorized as just one. Andrew Carnegie gained virtual control of the U.S. steel industry and became one of the richest men in the world.

Carnegie invested the vast majority of his fortune in the steel production in 1873. Carnegie’s reputation was damaged by the Homestead strike. His biography mentions, “The strike, which began on June 29th, 1892, revealed Carnegie’s plans to destroy the iron and steel workers’ union, and the event raised a public outcry.” Even though he damaged his reputation, he did many things that benefited the public which could help classify him as a captain of industry. He made about $350 million. It is said in his biography, “This money provided for thousands of public libraries and church organs and helped advance both higher and education and the cause of peace.” Just like Rockefeller, they both gave a lot of their profit to help others. In addition, he helped establish a number of schools, helped establish the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1910, and gave money for the construction of three temples.