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Industrialization

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 Vanderbilt and Rockefeller and Ford and 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 (charity).

In reality the debate over robber barons and captains of industry mirrors views of industrialism itself. Just as their were both positives and negatives to industrialism there were positives and negatives to the leaders of industrialism.

http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Lesson_44_Notes.htm



Captains of Industry


America wasn't discovered, it was built. At the end of the Civil War, America was seen as a failing experiment in democracy; a nation fraying from the inside and at war with itself. Just 50 years later, the United States was the greatest superpower the world had ever seen. This landmark transition was due in no small part to a group of business-savvy, innovative young men: John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan and Thomas Edison. These men constructed a bold vision for a modern America and transformed the greatest industries of our time, including oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobiles and finance; they are unequivocally America's first captains of industry.

Comments

  1. 1. Who was John D. Rockefeller?
    2. Was the difference between vertical and horizontal consolidation?
    3. Do you considered Rockefeller a captains of industry or robber barons.
    4. What method did Andrew Carnegie use for his business?
    5. Do you considered Carnegie a captains of industry or robber barons and why?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. John D. Rockefeller was an entrepreneur who had a monopoly in the oil industry.
      2. The difference is that in vertical consolidation one buys the means of production for an specific industry, while in horizontal consolidation one drives competition out of business by buying them.
      3. I Rockefeller is a robber baron because he was very greedy with his money. He did nothing to help out the lower class, and didn't feel bad when he drove his competition out of business(people lost their jobs).
      4. Andrew Carnegie used vertical consolidation for his business.
      5. I think Carnegie is a captain of industry because he put an emphasis on how the rich should donate to the poor, and what they should do with their money.

      Delete
  2. 1- Who was Rockefeller?
    2- Who was Andrew Carnegie?
    3- Was Rockefeller a "robber baron" or "captain of industry"?why?
    4- Describe the difference between Horizontal and Vertical consolidation?
    5- Name 2 strikes that broke out in the 19th century?

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1) What was Rockefeller known for?
    2) What is a monopoly?
    3) Name of the 2 riots that occurred.
    4) What was the Rockefeller method of business, and Carnegie method of business?
    5)Which one do you choose and why.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .He was known for his oil refinery and standard oil company.He is also known for building a monopoly in US.

      .A control of supply, trade or service in an entire country.

      .Haymarket Square Riot and Homestead Stike

      .Rokefeller's method was the Horizontal consolidation and Carnegie's method was the Vertical Consolidation.

      .I choose Veritical because I can own and control the entire process from raw materials to the maufacture and sale of the finished product which helps me gain more money and help my business grow fast.



      Delete
  4. 1.What is the Horizontal consolidation and who used this method?
    2.What is Social Darwinism?
    3.What is a "Trust" ?
    4. Why is Andrew Carnegie famous?
    5. Explain The Great Railroads Strike.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. Horizontal consolidation was/is when a firm buys the competitors to get rid of the competition absolutely. Rockefeller for example was one of the figures that used this method.
      2. Social Darwinism are the concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest.
      3. A "Trust" is a relationship where property is held by one party for the benefit of another.
      4. Andrew Carnegie is famouse for being considered one of the man who built America by controlling the enormous expansion of American steel.
      5. The Great Railroads Strike was when workers didn't allow any of the trains, mainly freight trains, to roll until this third wage cut was revoked.

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  5. 1. Who was rockefeller?
    2. Who was andrew carnegie?
    3. What was a monopoly?
    4. How did Rockefeller became so popular? What was his methods and skills?
    5. Was rockefeller a "robber baron" or a "captain of industry" why do you think this? Give examples and evidence.

    ReplyDelete
  6. 1. Who was Andrew Carnegie?
    2. What method did Rockerfeller use?
    3. Do you think Andrew Carnegie was a "robber baron" or a "captain of industry"?
    4. What is the difference between the method that Rockefeller and Carnegie used?
    5. What is the US antitrust law?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. Andrew Carnegie was a philanthropist who expanded the steel industry in the United States.
      2. Rockerfeller used the Horizontal method because this strategy allowed him to buy all the steel industry in the United States in order to create a monopoly.
      3. I think he was neither a "robber baron" nor a "captain of industry" because he did as many good as bad. He was a "captain of industry" because he was a big philanthropist who thought that our money has to be used for the best of the community. However, he was a "robber baron" because he lower the wages of the workers in order to have more money to donate.
      4. Rockefeller used the Horizontal method, which is when a company buys all others companies that do the same thing that this company. Carnegie used the Vertical method, which is when a company buys all companies that supply the products that other companies need in order to do what they do.
      5. The US antitrust law is the law that regulate and control other companies to avoid monopoly.

      Delete
  7. 1. What was Vertical and Horizontal consolidation?
    2. How did Rockefeller get away with not paying full prices when using the railroads to transfer his oil?
    3. What was the Homestead Strike?
    4. What is the Gospel of Wealth and who wrote it?
    5. What was the AFL?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. Vertical Consolidation-the taking over of all the different businesses on which a company relied for it's primary function. Carnegie Steel, which came to control not only steel mills, but mines, railroads, and other enterprises, was an example of vertical consolidation.
      Horizontal Consolidation-the combining of a number of firms engaged in the same enterprise into a single corporation. The consolidation of many different railroads lines into one company was an example.
      2. Rockefeller got away from paying full prices when transporting his oil because he made deals with the owners of the oil in order to for his oil to be cheaply transported he would comply to filling the shipments completely. Also, he pushed the owners of the railroads to raise the price for his competitors which would lead to many of them being forced to close or brought by Rockefeller.
      3. The Homestead Strike began on June 30, 1892. It lead to the shut down of the Homestead Plant after Henry Clay Frick told the Amalgamated (Union) that a wage cut was in process which lead to the strike. But then the strike became violent after the pinkertons were forced to retreat with injured and dead on both sides which lead to the arrival of the National Guard troops. This finally lead to the disunion of the Amalgamated.
      4. The Gospel of Wealth was a more temper interpretation of Social Darwinism. Andrew Carnegie in the 1901 created a book that expanded on this idea. He believed that the upper class had the responsibility of helping the poor by giving them the resources for success such as availability to higher education and library's that would benefit the community.
      5. Was called the Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada but then changed it's name to American Federation of Labor (AFL). It believed that instead of one big Union their should be smaller more autonomous unions that were nearly all representing skilled workers. They were contradicting when it came to women because they were hostile towards the idea of women working and argued that there activity in the work force reduced the wages of men but they also strived to demand equal pay for women who did work and actually hired female organizers to implement and spread these ideas. They also distrusted the government because they believed that whatever aid the government gave could be taken away.

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  8. What is Social Darwinism?
    Was Andrew Carnegie a Philanthropist. True/False
    What is Horizontal and Vertical consolodation?
    What is the great Railroad Strike?
    In your opinion is Rockefeller a robber baron or a captain of industry?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1) Social Darwinism is the belief that- if you're poor it's because you weren't smart enough to succeed. If you're rich it's because you were smart and made the right moves.
      2) True
      3) It is when a company increases its production of goods or services at the same part of the supply chain.
      4) The great railroad strike was where workers burned down areas of the company due to the lowering of wages
      5) He's a Robber Baron because of his domination of other businesses and his monopoly.

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  9. 1) Why is social Darwinism important ?
    2) What is the AFL ?
    3) Was Andrew Carnegie important why?
    4) What were Rockerfellers skills on becoming so know what was he known for ?
    5) What is important about a monopoly was is it ?

    ReplyDelete
  10. 1) What is the problem with Monopoly?
    2) what is Social Darwinism?
    3) In what ways did Rockefeller use horizontal consolidation and in what ways did Carnegie use vertical consolidation?
    4) Explain the Trust Agreement?
    5) what is the AFL?

    ReplyDelete
  11. 1) Why were investors encouraged to purchase stock?
    2) The difference between horizontal and vertical consolidation? Who applied them?
    3) How were the Knights of Labor and the AFL different?
    4) What is Social Darwinism?
    5) What is the greatest problem of creating monopolies?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. Investors were encouraged to purchased stocks because it help the company get some money.
      2. Difference between Horizontal and vertical consolidation is that horizontal is buying companies similar to yours and merging them into one big company. Vertical is when you own all the companies above you that you will need for your own company. John D Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie used these method.
      3. Knights of labor were the largest and most important labor organizations in america during the 1800s. The AFL founded in 1886 and was the national federation of labor unions in the United States.
      4. Social Darwinism is that only the ones who work the hardest make it in the industry world and those who didn't work hard lose their business or job.
      5. The greatest problem with monopolies is not leaving the customer a choice where to go to get a product and the owner could put any price they want and the people will have to pay it because they don't have another supplier who sells the same thing.

      Delete
  12. 1) Who was Rockefeller?
    2) What was Social Darwinism?
    3) How did Carnegie thought that wealth should be used?
    4) What is Horizontal and Vertical consolidation?
    5) What is the AFL?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1)John Davison Rockefeller Sr. was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He was a co-founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust.
      2)Social Darwinism is a name given to various theories of society which emerged in the United Kingdom, North America, and Western Europe in the 1870s, and which claim to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology and politics.
      3)Andrew Carnegie thought hat the best way of dealing wtith the new phenomenon of wealth inequality was for the wealthy to redistribute their surplus means in a responsible and thoughtful manner
      4)In horizontal consolidation, a firm buys its competitors. It buys other companies that make the same sorts of products so that it increases its market share and decreases its competition. By contrast, vertical consolidation involves buying firms up or down the supply chain.
      5)The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in May 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association.

      Delete
  13. 1. What is "Social Darwinism"?
    2. What was the "Great Railroad Strike"?
    3. What is a monopoly and how can it be bad for a country/community?
    4. What was the significance of John D. Rockefeller's use of "Horizontal and Vertical Integration"?
    5. Why did the "Homestead Strike" occur?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1.Social Darwinism is which claim to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology and politics.

      2.of 1877, sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval, began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, United States and ended some 45 days later, after it was put down by local and state militias, and federal troops.

      3. Monopoly is the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service.And is bad for the country because the can put high prices to the people since they are the only one in the company.

      4.The significance of John D. Rockefeller's use of "Horizontal and Vertical Integration", was that he became the most powerful in the business and control 90% of the oil business.

      5.he Homestead Strike, also known as the Homestead Steel Strike or Homestead Massacre, was an industrial lockout and strike which began on June 30, 1892, culminating in a battle between strikers and private security agents on July 6, 1892.

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  14. 1. What business was Rockefeller part of?
    2. What business was Carnegie part of?
    3. When did business begin booming in America? (after what event?)
    4. Who was Rockefeller's competitor(s)?
    5. Why did Carnegie want to control all of the mass productions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1.Rockefeller was in the oil industry
      2.Carnegie was in the steel industry
      3.The Civil War
      4.Vanderbilt,Tom Scot,Carnegie
      5.To expand his empire and get more money and eliminate competitors.

      Delete
  15. What was the Homestead strike?
    What was the Pullman Strike?
    What is considered to be a "selfmade man"?
    Why was a monopoly a problem?
    Why did workers hold strikes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. The Homestead strike was there was problems between steel entrepreneurs and steel workers, which eventually lead up to people being killed and mass destruction of factories and steel itself.
      2. The Pullman strike was a strike but against the unfairness of the railroads, exactly the same as the Homestead strike.
      3. A self-made man is considered someone of lots of wealth.
      4. Monopoly was a problem because due to no competition against a company, the prices sky-rocketed. Thus making people go out of jobs and the economy suffering.
      5. Workers held strikes to express what they wanted from different companies.

      Delete
  16. 1. What was the horizontal and vertical integration?
    2.What was Social Darwinism?
    3.What problems did monopolies have?
    4.what was the AFL?
    5.What was the knight of labor?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. Horizontal integration is a consolidation of many firms that handles the same lart of the production process. Vertical integration is typified by one firm engaged in different parts of production .
      2. Social darwinism is the belief that "survival of the fittest" should be applied to human beings.
      3.The most common monopoly problem is inefficiency. Market control means that a monopoly charges a higher price and produces less output than would be achieved under perfect competition. Most indicative of inefficiency, the price charged by the monopoly is greater than the marginal cost of production.
      4.The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States.
      5.The knight of labor was the largest and one of the most important American labor organizations of the 1880s. Its most important leader was Terence V. Powderly. The Knights promoted the social and cultural uplift of the workingman, rejected socialism and anarchism, demanded the eight-hour day, and promoted the producers ethic of republicanism.

      Delete
  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  18. 1) Define Social Darwinism.
    2) Who controlled the oil industry during the late 1800s?
    3)Explain the difference between horizontal and vertical consolidation.
    4) Who controlled a monopoly during the industrialization?
    5) Give a short summary of The Industrial America. Would you live in a place like this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1) Social Darwinism is the theory of "survival of the fittest" practically stating that the rich are rich because they are more fit to survive in competitions,society.
      2)John D. Rockefeller controlled the oil company during the late 1800s.
      3)Horizontal consolidation is when a company buys its competitors and create a monopoly and control certain markets.Vertical consolidation is when certain companies control every aspect of a certain industry, this lets the company control the supplies and charge up the prices.
      4)Rockefeller.
      5)Businesses started to increase and monopolies. Two methods became famous;Horizontal consolidation by John D Rockefeller and Vertical consolidation by Carnegie. People started to believe the social Darwinism theory. Many strikes occurred because wages were cut down. I wouldn't live in this time period because as a worker I would feel like my wage is not enough since they keep on cutting it and as a business woman my competitor could use one of the two consolidation and take my business away.

      Delete
  19. 1. Who was John D.Rockefeller?
    2. What was a Trust organization?
    3. What was Andrew Carnegie method and explanation on the gospel of wealth?
    4. How did the American Federation of Labor begin?
    5. How were workers rights affected by the Pullman Strike? And what was going on in Pullman, Chicago with the factory employees?

    ReplyDelete
  20. 1)define social Darwinism?
    2) what problem did monopolies have?
    3)what's was the Pullmans strike?
    4) who was Rockefeller competitors?
    5) why did carnage want to control all his produce?

    ReplyDelete
  21. 1. What was social darwinism
    2. Who competed against carnegie
    3. Was the pullman Strike successful
    4. Which president was known as a trust buster?
    5. What did Rockefeller do to his competitor?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. the believe of survival to the fittest.

      2. Rockefeller

      3. It was violent and was stopped

      4.President Roosevelt

      5. He shuts them down by buying them first.

      Delete

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