The Pros And Cons Of Robber Barons

A Review of The Myth of the Robber Barons a book by Burton Folsom JR.

During the post Civil War period many capitalists took over and ramped up industry. There were also individuals who took industries and monopolized them. Many historians who look back at these capitalists who shaped the post Civil War industry argue about whether they should be viewed as captains of industry who developed large industry, or as robber barons who used industry and monopolies to achieve wealth and take advantage of the working class. This essay will show why they were captains of industry.

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

Capitalists are more characterized as robber barons because of the corruption involving their industries and field. Andrew Carnegie, a steel tycoon, made a fortune through a method called “vertical integration”, which is the arrangement in which all the phases of manufacturing is owned by the company. That way they could improve the efficiency by making supplies higher quality and eliminating

Captain of Industry are those who made a positive contribution to the nation by expanding markets and increasing trade providing more jobs and increasing productivity. Some put their wealth to improve the lives of others with generous donations to their community. For example in Wealth and its Users by Andrew Carnegie, millionaires can be titled “Captain of Industry” because “They are the bees that make the most honey, and contribute most to the hive even after they have gorged themselves full.” Meaning they bring more money to their community to expand markets, and provide jobs. So businessmen titled “Captain of Industry” are the reason why communities have many businesses and many people with jobs.

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?

Wages were very low for the amount of work people were expected to do. People would only make anywhere from $1.25-$1.50 for the entire 10-12 hour workday. Not only were these wages extremely low, but employees often lived in expensive company housing which left barely any money for the other necessities of life. Nobody was satisfied with the wages during this time period but another struggle was the long hours. People worked 60-80 hour work weeks in the hot overcrowded factories, only doing one monotonous job. Lastly, the boss was very distant from the work crowd and there was little to no contact between the two groups. Also, the workers were very controlled by the foreman. The doors were locked on all floors to prevent theft during the day and bathroom breaks would be monitored by a floor manager. Overall, during the late 1800’s everyone was overworked and underpaid and this led to many troubles as years went on.

Captains of industry were defined as the business leaders whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributed positively to the country or society in some way. Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were considered to be captains of industry because with their profits from either their steel company or standard oil company, they give back to the society instead of themselves. They believed in the idea that people give in to you, in which you must give out as well. They established many charitable foundations that allowed them to become well known philanthropist and made them distinguishable from the rubber barons.

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

In the mid-1800s lots of things were being made by machine. For example: clothing, shoes, watches, guns, and farming machines were made. In 1840 the workday was 11 ½ hours. The workers were very tired and they most likely would have accidents. Workers and even children were hurt a lot by the machines. In the summer they were hot and in the winter they were cold, because there was not air conditioning or a heater in the factories. There were no laws to help the working conditions, and even to protect them. The owners didn't care about the workers, they cared about the money. Children would work six days a week and 12 hours or more a day. In the factories it was really hard and dangerous. Children would work the machines

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.

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.

The decades after the Civil War rapidly changed the face of the United States. The rapid industrialization of the nation changed us from generally agrarian to the top industrial power in the world. Business tycoons thrived during this time, forging great business empires with the use of trusts and pools. Farmers moved to the cities and into the factories, living off wages and changing the face of the workforce. This rapid industrialization created wide gaps in society, and the government, which had originally taken a hands off approach to business, was forced to step in.

To decide upon which of either title the titans deserve more of, let us first consider what exactly identifies and discerns a captain from a filthy baron. A captain of industry is a leader in their field. The prosperity their expertise generates does not necessarily go to them. It advances or benefits the entire economy. They create wealth. A robber baron, by comparison, focuses all their efforts on creating or benefiting themselves, at the expense of society as a whole. They exploit wealth and are filthy economic sell-outs. Knowing the difference, it holds true that the super rich economic titans of industry shouldn’t be particularly referred to as captains or barons. All titans, from “Commodore” Vanderbilt to J.P. Morgan, were so deserving

The Industrial Revolution, occurring primarily from the 1865 the 1900s, is informally defined as the “expeditious development of industry”. This was primarily sparked by the development of electricity and it’s ability to power machines that would increase the production rate of products. The Industrial Revolution aided in, well, you guessed it… industrial and economic development through the establishment of machinery driven by electricity, the establishment of varying marketing strategies, and utilization of workers. This period eventually led to a more stable economy, however, not without 3 separate periods of economic depression and the division of people by wealth. Politically, big businesses obtained greater power, through varying marketing strategies, and the minimal intervention of government to enforce or propose regulations. Industrialists had leverage, as people of the working class were willing to work for any amount of money. However, labor unions were formed to combat increasing hours and decreasing wages along with strikes. Post Civil War, the rise of industry induced a power shift from aristocrats to industrialists promoting capitalism. In regards to the economy the increased output of products resulted in a greater standard of living as demonstrated by the increase of GDP from 1865-1900 by dollars. Furthermore, because of this unequal division of wealth, a caste system was induced with the lower class being treated poorly, and labor unions formed