Dbq Essay

DBQ

In the time of 1875-1900, many capitalists formed the growing of industry in America as highly regarded captains of industry or fraudulent robber barons. The robber barons were industrialists who possessed the majority of wealth in America. This wealth gained was mostly through the expense of others, creating a greater space between the fortunate and the less fortunate ones. Captains of industry were industrialists that did the opposite. They assisted the American growth positively whether it was through the economy or acts of philanthropy which helped to equalize the gap between the rich and poor. Some of the famous capitalists at this time were Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.
These two well-known capitalists, Carnegie and Rockefeller, were certainly captains of industry. As captains of industry, they believed in stopping the progression of the wealthy class becoming wealthier and the poor classes becoming poorer. This was a problem Henry George talked about in his book Progress and Poverty which explained how to handle the cycle of industrial economy. Henry George’s philosophy, later known as Georgism, states that everybody owns what they create yet nature items are shared, especially land. (Doc A) Being successful industrialists, these captains of industry also had a duty to give back to the unfortunate and assist them in gaining wealth themselves, as well. As Carnegie stated in his Gospel of Wealth, captains of industry must “administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community.” In other words, these men must help the community prosper and both men had done so. (Doc C) Both Carnegie and Rockefeller became philanthropists and donated their money to numerous worthy causes. Earning their title “captains of industry” came not only with their great works of philanthropy, but also with their positive success in industry. Coming from a poor family and having a small amount of education, Carnegie was able to lead the massive expansion of the steel industry. He worked his way up and brought prosperity to his family using vertical integration. Andrew Carnegie proved to be a true captain of industry, though there were times in which he could have been seen as a robber baron, too. He urged for the rights of laborers to unionize and to protect their jobs, however steel workers were often pushed to long hours and low wages. Carnegie made quite a few technological innovations, including machines for steel, which greatly sped up the process of making steel. However, the machines brought about negative results such as the growing of unskilled workers and the pessimism of American laborers towards machines as stated in Document F. Workers viewed the machines as more work for them, having to constantly work at the same pace of the machine with no break and doing the same thing repeatedly. These circumstances demonstrated the robbery of the people’s willingness to work. (Doc F) Rockefeller’s positive success in the American industrialization period was founding the dominating Standard Oil Company. He came from a Baptist family of six children who frequently moved. Starting his first job as a bookkeeper, Rockefeller moved on to greater careers. He later formed the Standard Oil Company which became one of the largest shippers of oil and kerosene and was refining over 90% of the oil in the country. Through horizontal integration, which eliminated competitors, Standard Oil was increasingly gaining almost total control of oil refining and marketing. Although, according to the Supreme Court, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey violated the Sherman Antitrust Act and was ruled that the trust derived in illegal monopoly practices. As a result, it was ordered to be broken up into 34 new companies. Like Document E says, trusts had a harmful effect because everything was controlled by one. So it is proven that Rockefeller, too, had a few characteristics of a robber baron. For John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, “captains of industry” was the more accurate classification. They proved to have more admirable qualities rather than unworthy ones. Both men meant well in their life by their philanthropic ways and with their efforts to create social equality. The men were successful industrialists, in Steel and in Oil, which led to a newly industrialized South. (Doc B) Additionally, the both men became two of the richest men in America. Rockefeller and Carnegie clearly deserved the characterization of “captains of industry.”