Captains of Industry

Industrialists at the turn of the 20th century best deserve the title of Captains of Industry because, there have been many industrial achievements in this century. There has been a copious amount of new inventions in this century. Some of these inventions are made for entertainment, but some are made for our own conveniences. Companies have also increased their technology and machines have replaced the work that humans used to have to do, this has decreased human labor and the harshness of work. Thus, this decade deserves the title of Captains of Industry because, we have advanced society and created some places better to work in.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, during the climax of the American Industrial Revolution, there was a small group of men who owned the major businesses and were leaders of their industries. They owned factories, railroads, banks, and even created company towns for the sole purpose of housing their workers. Due to the efforts of these few men, the U.S. economy became the envy of the world, and America became a leading world power. They provided the public with products that were in high demand for reasonable prices, and opened their markets to countries overseas. Although many people believe the early industrialists were Robber Barons who exploited the poor, these great men were truly Captains of Industry who created new ways of doing

Andrew Carnegie is Scottish born immigrant who moved to America when he was 13 with his family. He and his family landed and settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Carnegie starts working at a factory and earns $1.20 a week. A year later he was able to find a job as a telegraph messenger. He was then in 1851 promoted to telegraph operator. In 1851, He starts working as the assistant/telegrapher for Thomas Scott. Thomas Scott is one of the highest officials on the Pennsylvania railroad. Through 3 years of being the assistant and telegrapher to Thomas Scott, he earns valuable lessons and experience about and on the railroad. He then took the position of being a superintendent. When Carnegie is working for and on the railroad,

According to The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie and Gospel of Wealth, Andrew Carnegie was born into a low-income family in Scotland in 1835. He is best known as the founder of Carnegie Steel (28). His rags to riches story has been shared over and over as an example of a person achieving the American dream. Carnegie’s life is a valuable lesson in what hard work and determination, sprinkled with good common business sense, can accomplish in America. The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie and Gospel of Wealth, it discusses the early years when Carnegie was the son of an impoverished linen weaver.

Zinn uses the term “robber barons” to show that Carnegie and Rockefeller became wealthy by unethical ways. They took control of American industry through making secret deals and driving competitors out of business. Carnegie took advantage of overseas tariffs and began producing steel, driving foreign businesses away. Carnegie also ignored unions and didn’t like them. They both worked until they had a total monopoly and they didn’t pay their workers well.

In the chapter “One good question” in Confessions of a Radical Industrialist, author Ray Anderson (2010) alerts that even though industries (including his) were very successful in different aspects, their actions were dangerous and were mistaken.

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.

One of these Captains is named Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie emigrated from Scotland to Pennsylvania at the young age of thirteen. After his father failing multiple times to start a handloom business, Carnegie, like many commoners, worked as a labourer earning only $1.20 a week. Surprisingly, a game of chequers between his uncle and manager of a local telegraph office is what led Carnegie on the road to wealth and fortune. Andrew was known as a robber baron, or wartime profiteers who would manipulate the stocks and bonds. Carnegie became the first

Prompt: What methods were used by industrialists to promote the growth of industry in America? Thesis: The success of Andrew Carnegie, Importance of oil and Social Darwinism are all methods that were used by the industrialists to grow the industry in America. Social Darwinism was created hoping for concepts of Survival of the fittest and natural selection to politics. He believed that those who were weak and not as strong were weeded out and those who were strong and successful, were best adapted to survive.

Was it innovation or greed and corruption that played a pivotal role in making the United States the leading industrialized nation in the world during the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, also known as the Gilded Age? In the book, Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson the author describes how greed and corruption by the United States government ultimately leads to poor decisions after a horrific disaster in 1900 [Larson]. In addition, well-researched essays by Henry Demarest Lloyd and Emma Goldman back up Larson’s theory that the Gilded Age was actually a very dark time for the United States.

Andrew Carnegie, born November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland, was the owner of Carnegie Steel Corporation; one of the biggest of its kind in the world. Carnegie moved to the United States at the age of twelve with his parents after his father, a handloom weaver, was gradually replaced with power looms. Carnegie was from a poor family and could not afford an education, but he always had access to books and through reading was able to educate himself, at least a little. Once in America he worked in one of the many factories in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, making $1.20 a week. After that he managed to find a job as a telegraph messenger. He taught himself how to send the telegraph messages and eventually became a telegraph operator at the age of seventeen. Through his life he learned two different things from his parents. His father believed in helping the less fortunate, from his mother he learned to put himself before anyone else.

These men are Captains of Industry because they donated a lot of money towards great things to make impacts. Accordingly, Eastman gave scholarships and internships to engineering students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( reading ). He also promoted a program to develop a medical school and hospital at the University of Rochester ( website ). This made many impacts because now more people could go to college for engineering. If more people go to college for engineering, they could have a chance at getting a better job and then there will be more educated workers to hire. Rockefeller also made tons of donations. He founded the General Education Board to establish high schools throughout the South by providing free professional advice

     True, Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller may have been the most influential businessmen of the 19th century, but was the way they conducted business proper? To fully answer this question, we must look at the following: First understand how Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller changed the market of their industries. Second, look at the similarities and differences in how both men achieved domination. Third and lastly, Look at how both men treated their workers and customers in order achieve the most possible profit for their company.

The dramatic transformation of America that ensued during the Industrialist Revolution can be credited to a group of powerful men who fueled innovation, as well as implemented the concept of the “American dream” during this time period. This elite group included names that are still relevant today such as Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Vanderbilt. They revolutionized America by always being one step ahead of the economy while using the factors of industrialization to their advantage; as a result, they received a fortune that today would be the equivalent of billions of dollars. Through manipulation and unjust schemes, they created an economy that has paved the way for workers all around the world today.

The United States has come to be known as a major world superpower throughout history. One of the main parts of America that has contributed to its renowned strength has been its economy. The United State’s economy has been growing ever since it began. Credit for its strength and progress in development can be attributed to the financial geniuses of their time. John D. Rockefeller became an economical giant during his time when he changed the face of business by developing ground-breaking new strategies to ensure financial success. Rockefeller dramatically changed the business field during The Gilded Age. He did so through the use of his social Darwinistic philosophy of capitalism, inclusion of vertical and horizontal integration,