America’s Antebellum Capitalists: Captains of Industry or Robber Barrons?

Capitalism can be defined as “when monetary wealth was enabled to buy labor power” (Wolf et al. 77). By the time that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was written, Capitalism was the dominant mode of production, and capitalist markets were spreading rapidly. This became especially true in the United States of America, which was heavily influenced by the British in matters of economy. Since capitalism was born in England, the influence of capitalism bled over into America while they were still under British rule (Wolf et al. 2670). However, by 1820, the year that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was published, the United States fully adopted the capitalist mode of production, along with the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution. This embrace of the new economic system changed the ways of life for people in both New England and New York, along with the entirety of the country.

While they were only getting richer with their corrupt methods, the poorer classes were getting poorer because of the money they spent on the capitalists’ goods. In “The Robber Barons of Today, 1889”, the robber barons are seen with their “knightly” attire while the poor pay “tribute” to them. (Doc D) It represents the poor paying the “amazing” capitalists and being subservient for the goods they need. Also, in Henry George’s Progress and Poverty, 1879, it said that the gulf between the classes is getting wider and wider. Because of the industrial tycoons taking the poor’s money, they are getting richer. They are also providing fewer jobs since the industries usually have one major company for a particular manufacturing, and so “the poorer class is becoming more dependent” on the capitalists to provide jobs and goods. (Doc A) The robber barons took the poor’s money to become wealthier and to feed their greed while worsening the gap between the social

Despite the nation’s increase in wealth through urbanization and the façade of a prospering people, the fraudulency of the Gilded Age crippled the masses in their rise to security. The competiveness amongst laborers, a battle for control of

The Jacksonian period (1824-1841) is widely recognized as the era of the “common man”. To an extent, this statement is true due to the numerous political advancements that increased the rights of the “common man”. However, the political developments alone do not form a full picture of this period. In contrast with the progress in the political sphere, the economic developments during this era oppressed the people as America plunged into the worst financial depression it had seen to that point.

The term “Robber Baron” describes a business owner who obtained their wealth based on unfair practices (Overview of the Gilded Age, Digital History). During this time immigrants were coming overseas needing jobs to support their families. The business owners took notice of this and took it as an opportunity to make money by paying the immigrants low wages but working them excruciatingly long hours. By doing this, businesses began to increase their income because they weren’t obligated to pay laborers. Thanks to the businessmen of the Gilded Age who treated their companies and laborers unfairly, there are now laws and regulations as to how many hours a person can work in a week. Another positive that came out of these historical figures is, we now

“The wealthy class is becoming more wealthy; but the poor class is becoming more dependent. "(Doc 1) from Progress and Poverty, in 1879 by Henry George, he describes a social gap between the rich and the poor. He speaks of social differences and contrasts that are becoming more prominent in noticeable. Another piece of this evidence of the gap of wealth growing larger is a source from Andrew Carnegie in the Gospel of Wealth in 1889. (Doc 2) he begins speaking of a wealthy man's responsibility to his community. He then goes on saying he (the wealthy) must act as a parental figure in reality, since they should give the poor since they lack the knowledge, experience, and more since those with money can do it better than the poor could. Andrew Carnegie is reaching out to the poor, and attempting to aid them, on the contrary, baby feeding the poor will not “Help them help themselves "as spoken by President Kennedy. By offering them opportunities rather than rations of

Throughout the late 19th century, several men such as John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Cornelius Vanderbilt built empires in railroad construction, coal mining, and the oil industry. These industrial leaders helped the economy flourish and created a leading industrial power in the world. After a while, critics began to question their power and objective. Critics began to call them “robber barons” for their selfish and corrupted techniques. While they took advantage of careless government regulation and no income tax, they generated huge business that benefited the country.

People such as John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Andrew Carnegie are known as some of the major robber barons during the Gilded Age. Although they made major contributions to the economy, they paid their workers unfair wages. In fact, “most working class men were paid very little, so they didn’t have the option of a single-income home” (Child Labor in the Gilded Age). Women and children were also sent to work to earn an income for their family, and often that was barely enough to survive. While “Carnegie amassed a fortune, steelworkers in his plants labored 10 to 12 hours a day, six days a week, for about 15 cents an hour” (Lapsansky-Werner, 69). These wages and working hours gives the robber barons their rightful name. Another reason that these captains of industry were named robber barons was the

Throughout American industrialization, large industries were run by some of the richest men in history. These men got the nickname “robber barons” due to their creation of large monopolies by making questionable business and government activities, and by taking advantage of their workers to succeed. But in The Myth of the Robber Barons by Burton W. Folsom, he argues against these claims, and he takes a deeper look into some of America’s richest and most successful men. By specifically looking at Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, James J. Hill, the Scranton family and many more, Folsom believed that these so-called robber barons were actually entrepreneurs with a drive to succeed, leading to an improvement in American lives.

Between the 1870'S to the 1900’S the rise of big corporations whom had a lot of control over politics and the economy, increased. In determining the full impact of corporations in America, a person must asset to the extent some went to achieve richness and have such a big influence in the government as well as the economy. Politically the corporations had control over what was said in the government, economically the corporations took advantage of the poor factory workers, and farmers , by lowering wages and raising prices to export crops. Corporations began to ignite political, and economic issues in post industrial america.

The Progressive Era was an age of ambition and brutal competition between the people who are to this day credited with building the backbone of the American economic society. Although, even in the early years of industry, getting to the top comes with manipulation especially for the business titans of the time, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. Contrary to popular belief in those days, these men were not honourable business men. Yet, this wasn’t uncovered until reformers finally started exposing the lies buried behind the corporations in 1890 through 1920. The reason most people in Manhattan (the most common place

The big businesses that dominated the United States during the nineteenth century should not be considered Robber Barons. Although some people’s livelihoods were destroyed, they were not setting out just to ruin people’s lives. They wanted to industrialize, make money, and make the United States’ economy more stable. If they continued to operate on a small scale, then the money would continue to be scarce for everyone as it had been in the past. They had to do something different in order to see any kind of change in the way things were going. Without people willing to try new innovative ideas, we would have never become this huge industrial powered nation America is today. The bigger businesses often swept up many of the smaller businesses in the process of industrializing, but in the end it all worked out to make the American economy better and avoid more depressions.

The Unites States became World’s leading industrial power in 1893 which inevitably made wealthy more wealthy like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. On the Contrary, industrialized economy in the late nineteenth century became very unstable and exceptionally affected the lives of Americans. The exploitation of the working people under the control of wealthy kept on increasing to an extent where they were treated like slaves or they will die of unemployment. The Gilded Age exchange between Andrew Carnegie and working people clarifies wealthy people’s condescending approach toward workers and their response.

After fifteen years of the Civil War, Northern and southern manufactures gave birth to dramatic industrial development in the new era of The United state. During and immediately after the war, Republicans gained the opportunity to make laws and rules to enhance industrial growth, which eventually enabled wealthy industrialist to exploit the nation’s valuable resources. The Gilded age was the time period of extraordinary technological innovation, mass immigration and intense political membership

“The Industrial Revolution was making the United States dramatically wealthier by the year, and greatly elevated the average income.” However, the “increasing wealth was being distributed highly unequally.” – (Page 112).