Essay Robber Barons in America

Biography.com states, “Vanderbilt soon became known for his sharp business acumen”. Years later, other business titans also used Vanderbilts tactics such as monopolies and treacherous choices to grow their own

“Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt, also known as the founder of the New York Central Railroad System, was born on May 27th, 1794 in Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York. He was named after his father, who “...instilled in him a blunt, straightforward demeanor...” while his mother, Phoebe Hand instilled “...frugality and hard work....”. It is known that his family has roots in De Bilt, which is a town in the Netherlands.

A "robber baron" was someone who employed any means necessary to enrich themselves at the expense of their competitors. Did John D. Rockefeller fall into that category or was he one of the "captains of industry", whose shrewd and innovative leadership brought order out of industrial chaos and generated great fortunes that enriched the public welfare through the workings of various philanthropic agencies that these leaders established? In the early 1860s Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, who came to epitomize both the success and excess of corporate capitalism. His company was based in northwestern Pennsylvania.

In a book published in 1991 by Burt Folsom, The Myth of the Robber Barons is essentially a book about two theories competing against one another, which is the political versus the market entrepreneurs. The book adamantly persuades the reader into believing market entrepreneurship has provided Americans with greater results versus political entrepreneurs featuring from real life scenarios to back up Mr. Folsom claims. He pointed out several market entrepreneurs in his book such as J.D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, James Hill and Charles Schwab as ones who helped changed the economic climate for Americans by providing superior and lower-cost products and/or services than its competitors. Mr. Folsom continued to shine light on several political

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.

Robber Barons were individuals that wielded power without any accountability. These individuals were known to have the mindset of “rags to riches”. This simply meant the rise of monopolists from being super poor and never looked at as multimillionaires. A few of these individuals were, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and J.P. Morgan, among many others. These men amassed vast fortunes through industries such as oil, steel, railroads, and finance.

When the names Carnagie, Rockefeller, and Pullman come to mind, most of us automatically think of what we saw or read in our history books: "These men were kind and generous and through hard work and perseverance, any one of you could become a success story like them," right? Wrong. I am sick of these people being remembered for the two or three "good deeds" they have done. Publicity and media have exaggerated the generosity of these men, the government has spoiled these names with false lies, and people have been blind to see that these men were ruthless, sly businessmen who were motivated by your money and their struggle for power.

Rockefeller retired in 1896 and devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy. He put the same drive for improvement and efficiency that built Standard Oil towards charitable works. The laudable way in which he dispersed his fortune caused a crisis of conscience in a nation that had grown up hating him for the way that he built it. He gave away hundreds of millions during his declining years and, with his son's help, set up the Rockefeller Foundation to carry on his work after he

John D rockefeller was in the American industry of oil business and a philanthropist. He was born in Richford New York on July 8th, 1839. He had seven other siblings William, Frank, Francis, Mary Ann, Cornelia, and Lucy Rockefeller. His parents were Williams Rockefeller Sr. and Eliza Davison. His father, a con artist and mother, a very religious woman are the two people to shaped him to be how he was. They moved several times and after finally settling in Cleveland, Ohio, Rockefeller got his first job as a bookkeeper at the age of 16. Rockefeller went into a business partnership with Maurice B. Clark along with his brothers at the young age of 20. After Rockefeller bought them out, he and his brother named Williams founded Rockefeller & Andrews

Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839, in Richford, New York. Hard working even as a child, Rockefeller earned money by raising turkeys, selling candy and doing jobs for others. In 1853, the Rockefeller family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where John attended high school. In 1855, at age 16, John found work as an office clerk at a Cleveland commission firm that bought, sold, and shipped grain, coal and other items. In 1859, Rockefeller and a partner established their own commission firm. The same year, the United State’s first oil well was drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania. In 1863, Rockefeller and many partners entered the successful new oil industry by investing in a Cleveland refinery. Over the next couple of years, Rockefeller acquired new partners and expanded his business interests in the growing oil industry. In 1870, Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Company, along with his younger brother William, Henry Flagler, and a group of many other men. John Rockefeller was its president and

Cornelius Vanderbilt was a steamship and railroad tycoon. He made millions in the steamship business before turning to the promising railroad industry. He began to take capital from the steamship business to buy railroads, starting with the New York and Harlem Railroad in 1862. Vanderbilt eventually amassed over $100 million from his railroad empire and his wealth and power was virtually untouchable. He was a ruthless businessman, once saying to a competitor “You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I will ruin you.” His New York Central rail line operated from New York to Chicago along more than 4,500 miles of track at the time of his death.

Before Standard Oil came to fruition, however, various circumstances surrounding John D. Rockefeller Sr, and his growth as a businessman took place to influence his success. Born on July 8th, 1839, to parents William Rockefeller-- a deceptive, dishonest yet charming criminal-- and Eliza Davison-- a witty and strong-willed lady-- John D. was from his very origin an unusual child, forged in the marriage between polar opposites, whom he unsurprisingly resembles. In this household Rockefeller was primarily under the jurisdiction of his mother. Eliza’s bearing in the household led to significant Baptist influence on Rockefeller’s life. His father practiced a secret bigamist lifestyle and as such was absent from the house for a great amount of time. Rockefeller lived in a few locations during boyhood, including Moravia and Owego, New York, where in 1851 he attended Owego Academy, and Strongsville, Ohio, where in 1853 he attended Cleveland’s Central High School. Because of his father’s vacancy, however, John D. was unable to continue to a full education in college as intended; he instead studied bookkeeping for three months at E.G. Folsom’s

On July 8, 1839 John D. Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York to William Rockefeller and Eliza Davison. William Rockefeller moved across parts of the world due to being a merchant. William wasn’t an ordinary work horse; he searched for ways to work around all of the challenging labor. While William was away making money, his wife Eliza had difficult times taking care of the household. Being the only man in the household, John D. Rockefeller helped his mother out by doing chores and collecting money of his own. He was not an ordinary child; Rockefeller grew a passion for numbers/accounting and debating. Eventually, in 1853 the family moved to Ohio and settled. In Cleveland, Ohio Rockefeller attended a business school and had intentions

John Rockefeller was born on July 8th 1839 from his Mother Eliza Davison and father William Rockefeller Sr. He is well known for his oil company (Standard Oil). In 1864 John married Laura Spelman they had four children three as of which were girls one boy. In 1863 he built his first oil refinery in Cleveland. John borrowed some money and started buying out his partners. He formed Standard Oil in Ohio in 1870.

During the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, both robber barons and captains of industry were terms used to place businessmen into a good or bad category. The term robber baron is a representation of industrialist who used manipulative methods in order to reach enormous quantities of wealth. Some characteristics of robber barons were: they depleted America of its valuable resources, forced authority to pass laws that would work in there favor, make opponents in the industry go out of business, and force laborers to work in hazardous circumstances with little pay. The term captains of industry meant the exact opposite, these businessmen did positive things in order to reach enormous quantities of wealth. Some characteristics of captains of industry were: they constructed factories to make the accessibility of goods rise, increased production, developed markets, gave to charity, and created more jobs with generous pay. While many historians believe that the industrialist of the 19th century were captains of industry there are others that would object and say that they were indeed robber barons. Would you consider the great industrialist of the 19th century to be robber barons or would you consider them as captains of the industry?