James Buchanan Duke: Robber Baron

He was born August 24th, 1890 in Waikiki, Honolulu County, Hawaii. His parents were Duke and Julia. Duke was a police officer, and Julia was a deeply religious women who stayed home with her children. Duke had 8 siblings; Samuel, Sargent, Brenice, David, Bill, Kapiolani, Louis, Maria. Duke went to grammar school but dropped out so he could spend more time on the beach, and help take care of his family.

Robber barons, famously known for their ruthless means of acquiring wealth back in the late nineteenth century. They were awful. They were complete menaces to society and only ever created wealth for themselves. Or, at least that 's what is commonly taught in high school American history classes, but author Burton Folsom Jr. offers an unique alternative perspective in his book, The Myth of the Robber Barons. He provides a closer look at the results achieved by these infamous robber barons to give insight into what actually happened in the wake of these entrepreneurs’ conducted business. Folsom uses seven chapters on separate industries ran by robber barons to show, at least from an overall economic view, The United States experienced a gross net benefit by the existence of robber barons.

Cornelius Vanderbilt, a. k. a. The Commodore, was the richest man in America from 1850 to 1875. He had an estimated $100 million when he died, all left to his son, William. But the most important thing to know about Cornelius Vanderbilt, is that he was a robber baron.

Andrew Carnegie was known to be the most hypocritical of all robber barons. He supported worker’s rights but couldn’t uphold his own moral code. Under his watch, his company cut worker’s wages and extended hours. Carnegie caused an uprise of his own workers and created the Homestead Strike of 1892. He approved that his company should hire men to intimidate the workers into submission, which sparked violence and ultimately resulted in many people getting killed. Andrew Carnegie used his wealth and influence to his benefit, paying a replacement to fight for him to avoid getting drafted in the Civil War. Andrew Carnegie was a powerful robber baron that used vertical integration to control the steel industry.

Cornelius Vanderbilt was born with some wealth from his father, who was a ferry owner, he made quite a bit of money from it too. When he was younger he joined his father, watching his ways and learning them too. In Vanderbilt’s teen years, he bought his first ferry, which was the start of his big successful business life. He was very,very smart with money, he knew how to get it but he didn’t know how to use it. He grew up to own many steamships and he became the country’s largest steamship owner, then he later in life put all of his riches towards railroads, and he had railroads all across the nation leading from place to place, making money by the minute, because of his success in the railroad business, he became the richest man in the nation. So in a way, Vanderbilt was a captain of industry but he was majority a robber baron.

James W. Marshall was born in 1810 in New Jersey. His parents were Philip Marshall and Sarah Wilson. He had three other siblings and was the oldest. He was the only boy, all of his siblings were girls. In 1816 James’ dad had five acres of land and built a house on it. James was a carpenter and

James Buchanan was born on April 23rd, 1791 in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania. Buchanan’s parents James Buchanan Sr. and Elizabeth Speer were Ulster Scots; his father emigrated from Donegal, Ireland in 1783. He grew up with six sisters and four brothers in a log cabin until they moved to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in 1797. Buchanan’s educational career consisted of attendance to Old Stone Academy in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Dickinson College (also in Carlisle, Pennsylvania) where he graduated with honors in 1807, he then moved to Lancaster and earned his law degree. In the War of 1812, Buchanan served in the defense of Baltimore and is known as the only president with military experience who never served as an officer. Although he claimed to love Anne Caroline Coleman, they were never married and after their breakup Buchanan sent the following letter to Corenelia Roosevelt which led people to question his sexual orientation.

Andrew Carnegie. Who was he? Was he just a robber baron or a captain of industry. Andrew was a self made Entrepreneur in the late 1800s. He was the owner of the Carnegie Steel Company which monopolized the steel industry. In 1889 he wrote the famous “Gospel of Wealth” which made the use of libraries to give to the worthy poor that were smart to use them. He also gave away 350 million dollars. On the other side Carnegie’s steel workers were treated poorly by long working hours and reduced wages. He also gave support to the plant manager Henry Frick who hired Pinkerton thugs to intimidate workers on strike and many were killed in the conflict. Andrew Carnegie was sometimes saw as a robber baron taking others money to give away not spending his own money On the other hand people saw him as a captain of industry giving to the worthy poor with libraries and millions of dollars.

The Myth of Robber Barons discusses some of the major entrepreneurs in of the United States from 1850 to 1910. Burton Folsom also discusses these entrepreneur’s key role in their fields and the whole economy of the United States. The entrepreneurs discussed are Commodore Vanderbilt, James J. Hill, The Scranton’s Group, Charles Schwab, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Mellon. We know these men as “Robber Barons,” but Folsom argues that these entrepreneurs succeeded by producing quality product and service at a competitive price. He compares so called “Robber Barons” to the political entrepreneurs who rely heavily on government subsidy and make no improvement.

The Gilded Age was a time in American history when some of the most famous industrialists rose to power. These industrialists made good decisions and bad decisions which reflected them as Captains of Industry or Robber Barons. A Captain of Industry is used to describe someone who contributes positively to society. Robber Barons are businessmen who use unethical or questionable ways to gain power/wealth. Both terms were expressed during this time period by businessmen. The great industrialists of the Gilded Age show traits of being both Captains of Industry and Robber Barons.

James Madison was born on March 16, 1751, in Port Conway, Virginia, to Colonel James Madison Sr. and Eleanor Rose Conway. Madison and his siblings grew up into the Christian religion since his family was very religious. James had eleven other siblings and was the oldest out of them all. All his siblings were outgoing and playful, but James was the most fragile out of all his siblings due to Epileptoid Hysteria. Epileptiod Hysteria is a sickness that causes seizures, a fear that affects your mind, and it affects how you think about different situations. Due to

James Madison was born March 16, 1751 in Belle Grove, Port Conway.1 He was the oldest of 12 children, seven of who actually lived to adulthood. His parents were James Madison Sr. And Eleanor Rose Conway. Rose, his mother lived to be ninety eight years old. In 1762 at the age of 11 he was sent to a boarding school in King and Queen county, Virginia. His father, James, was a successful planter and owned more than 3,000 acres of land with dozens of slaves. He died of heart failure at the age of 85 on June 28, 1836. He died at the Montpelier estate.2

What is a robber baron? Webster’s New Dictionary defines it as an American capitalist of the late 19th century who became wealthy through exploitation (As of natural resources, governmental influence, or low wage scales) or a person who satisfies himself by depriving another. In America we had a lot of these kind of people. For this report I am going to tell you about the ones that I found most interesting to me. I would first like to tell you about Cornelius Vanderbilt.

The definition of a Robber Baron is, “an unscrupulous plutocrat, especially an American capitalist who acquired a fortune in the late nineteenth century by ruthless means.” According to this definition John D. Rockefeller, a man who literally came from nothing, a man who had to work since he was of age to walk,write and talk and a man who built up a company with nothing but his calloused hands and back is labeled as “an unscrupulous plutocrat” and “ruthless”. John D. Rockefeller is not a Robber Baron. He is, should be, a Captain of Industry.

He was born on April 28, 1758, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, to Spence Monroe and Elizabeth Jones Monroe. Spence was a planter and carpenter whose family emigrated from Scotland in the mid-1600s. James attended Campbelltown Academy between 1769 and 1774. Monroe was an excellent student.