Midterm Exam
2. Were the Founders of American Industry "robber barons" or "captains of industry?" The wave of industrialism that we have been studying was often driven by a few great men known as industrialists. There can be no mistaking their motives: wealth. There is some debate; however on the how history should portray these industrialists. Some feel that the powerful industrialists of the gilded age should be referred to as "robber barons." This view accentuates the negative. It portrays men like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan as cruel and ruthless businessmen who would stop at nothing to achieve great wealth. These "robber barons" were accused of exploiting workers and forcing horrible working conditions and unfair labor practices upon the laborer. Another view of the industrialist is that of "captain of industry." The term captain views these men as viewed ingenious and industrious leaders who transformed the American economy with their business skills. They were praised for their skills as well as for their philanthropy. In modern industry the line of good and evil seems far easier to distinguish. Take Wal-Mart for example; in 2003 Wal-mart donate $107 million, the most ever given by that company and only after persecution by film makers, to charity in order to receive huge tax breaks, were as Bill Gates had given away over $1.18 Billion of his wealth to charity that year alone. The Walton Family is worth $90 Billion dollars.() In reality the debate over robber barons and captains of industry mirror views of industrialism itself. Just as there were both positives and negatives to industrialism there were positives and negatives to the leaders of industrialism.
John D Rockefeller began as a humble oil business book-keeper in Cleveland, Ohio, and in just seven years rose to control a tenth of the entire US oil business. In the late 19th century the oil industry was a free-for-all, the law of the jungle ruled. Rockefeller used...