Obviously void of a monarch to lead a court and in turn, the country, the US has turned to alternative leaders for leadership through various periods of intense development. The period of great industrialization in the late 1800’s is no exception. During this period, society was lead by several key industrialists that forever changed business. Sometimes mislabeled as “Robber Barons”, these men were truly the “Captains of Industry”: these individuals took on American business as it had been and flipped it on it’s head, to their, and society’s, advantage. These men, the likes of Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, and Morgan, left an indelible mark on the progress of America. In truth, these industrial giants helped to turn the US into a leading world industrial power. Through the development of both industry and infrastructure, several key industrialist figures helped to pave the way for America’s industrial boom.
In order for any industry to have a new found boom and impact on society, some sort of innovation must be made, No progress can come from keeping old practices. Thus, when the system of vertical integration was developed by Andrew Carnegie for use in his steel business, the industry and its practices leaped forward, and brought society along with it. Vertical integration is the practice of owning all of the steps involved in producing a good/item. In Carnegie’s business, this meant owning the mines, shipping trucks, processing plants, and any other steps along the way from raw ore to finished steel. Here, Carnegie effectively “cut out the middleman”. This process also cut out many of the costs, and in turn the businesses, often small, of the in between steps. By dominating all the steps in a process, Carnegie helped to inch America into the era of monopolies. The affect of monopolies on US society were wide reaching and a part of everyday life: loss of jobs, small businesses sinking, price gouging, and abuse of workers. In the end, it took years of...