Similarities Between John D. Rockefeller And J. P. Morgan

Napoleon of Wall Street J.P. Morgan was the most influential person in mid 1800 - early 1900s. He became the most powerful man in america who was only challenged by Andrew Carnegie and J.D. Rockefeller, together these men are worth 1 trillion dollars in today’s money - that's more than the top 40% combined wealth today. Morgan saved the US government twice - really he saved American business twice. He took the over expanded railroad and made it profitable, took Edison’s D.C. current and Tessa’s A.C. current combining them into General Electric lighting homes across America, bought Andrew Carnegie's steel business making into US Steel hoisting the company profit to 1 billion - for the first time in American history. J. Pierpont Morgan was

Big business leaders of 1877-1900 during the United States Gilded Ages pioneered new methods of efficiently, used unskilled labors, and evidently set the modern precedent for businesses in the United States today. John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan made their fortunes through hard work, ambition, and skill. Most of these men transformed themselves from poverty-stricken boys they grew up as, to the richest businessmen in American history. Although their success was created by the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, they shaped today's modern industrialism. Each created one of the largest, most powerful, and successful corporations in America at the time.

In the novel, “The Tycoons” by Charles R. Morris, he explains how Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan invented the American super economy. In Morris’s novel, he goes in depth of the lives of these men and the experiences that truly made them the group who transformed America’s economy. They transformed the greatest industries of our time: oil, rail, steel, and finance. Not only did they transform America for the better but are also the first captains of industry. I will start with J.P. Morgan who was an art collector, banker, and financier.

After the Civil War, Americans converged to build a nation with optimism. This saw a new wave of industrialism steered by a few entrepreneurs who set up firms to amass wealth and create employment to Americans. The success of these industrialists led historians and other scholars to refer to them as captains of industry or robber barons. By referring to them as captains of industry, historians implied that they applied their ingenuity and inventiveness to transform the economy, and impact the lives of the people through philanthropy. They were also castigated for exploiting the American workers through poor working conditions and low wages for their own selfish gain.

When Morgan took over the steel company from Carnegie, he eventually made it the first billion-dollar corporation in America ever. During 1907, Wall Street became very dismayed. Morgan helped the United States from going under financially by “mobilizing the city’s bankers in his solemnly ornate library and got them to commit money to rescue

The Growth of America America’s industrialization did not just happen on its own. Many workers and business people contributed to the growth of America ,but three men made significant impacts. These three men were Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. Vanderbilt led to the expansion of the railroad industry. Rockefeller led the advancement of oil refining and Carnegie progressed the way steel was manufactured.

Although the majority of capitalists considered captains of industry have given back to the greater good in some way or another through philanthropic acts such as the increase in productivity, expansion of markets, and/or provision of more jobs, in turn he/she can also be recognized as robber barons due to his/her utilization of unjustifiable and greed-driven tactics to gain an edge over, and eventually eradicate, his/her competition. The characterization of the majority of industrialists as robber barons is not justifiable due to the fact that a number of these leaders were also very philanthropic and can be described as both a captain of industry and/or a robber baron. John D. Rockefeller, an American business magnate and philanthropist, was the co-founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry in the late nineteenth century. Rockefeller utilized unjustifiable tactics such as rebates, drawbacks, and horizontal integration to grow his business and overwhelm his competitors and could thus easily lower commercial prices because of the unfair advantage that he had gained.

Andrew Carnegie: Road to Wealth and Success Seen as a robber baron, Andrew Carnegie may have toll advantage of his loyal employees and his relentless competition, his personal intentions and innovations within the steel industry and his philanthropic distribution undeniably changed America’s society and views of education. In the early nineteenth century, American industrialist were gathering good ideas through Carnegie’s innovations and initiative. When Carnegie started out onto the road to success and wealth, from rags to riches and earned his big reputation that he brought among himself. For the successful people who misused their employees and competition were inevitably labeled as “robber barons,” i.e. John D. Rockefeller.

The streetlights burn slowly and patiently, flaring as more oil is funneled in. The tracks leading across the east coast are steel, linking with its brethren to create a chain travelling across the east coast. The coming train is bound for New York City, prepared to transport prospective men, women, and children to the heart of urban expansion in nineteenth-century America. The country is slowly becoming overtaken by a wave of industry. The two men, poised yet poisonous, standing at the helm of this ship of industry, are John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie.

At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution John D Rockefeller was one of the Great Captains of Industry that brought the US and the world into a new air unlike any other before it’s time. Rockefeller along with the other men who were the leading force behind the industrial revolution gave us and became the American dream. These people brought hope back to America after the bloody Civil War, which ended in Lincoln’s assassination who everyone was looking towards to restore America. However, what ended up happing is that Rockefeller and the tycoons took America from a small time experimental country. Turning it into the powerhouse that it is today that stands for freedom not just for people but also in its commerce and economy.

“Much of the blame heaped on the captains of industry in the late 19th century is unwarranted.” (Document F). The Gilded Age was a time where the U.S. economy grew very quickly and rapidly, due to the inventive minds and entrepreneurs of that time; but it has different perspectives of opinions in history today. This era led the U.S. to its state and place in the present world, thanks to its important contributors, (who are involved in the main debate of whether they were robber barons, unethical men who yearn for money, or captains of industry, leaders who add positive ideas and methods to benefit their country.) The industrial leaders of the Gilded Age are captains of industry, worthy of some gratitude and credit for how our society’s structure

After the Civil War, the Second Industrial Revolution was established due to America’s rapid growth for industry and economics. Capitalists during the industrial period of 1875-1900’s were either accused of being a robber baron or a captain of industry. Some capitalists leaders who were accused of being a robber baron or captain of industry included J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew W. Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller. A robber baron is a business leader who gets rich through cruel and scandalous business practices. The captains of industry is a business leader who wants to better the companies in a way that it would be positively contributing to the country.

His work, The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy, allows readers to see a more picture perfect outlook on what the lives of these men entitled. Morris’s book was published in 2005, which allows readers to get a perspective from a long period of time and closer to reality rather than other historians writing on this era. The last author that allows readers to view the Robber Barons in a different manor is James Nuechterlein in his journal article Gifts of the “Robber Barons.” Nuechterlein wrote this article in 2007 allowing readers to view the men through historical resources that he uncovered. His stance shows a more balanced approach to the Robber Barons rather than saying one or the other was a better man than the other.

Although many citizens viewed capitalists as “Captains of Industry,” they can also, just as easily, be seen as “Robber Barons.” Even though railroads were beneficial to society, they were not without corruption, as shown by the Credit Mobilier scandal. This was a railroad company that paid itself huge sums of money for small railroad construction. In fact, it received twenty-three million dollars in profit. Moreover, the railroad industry could be seen as completely insincere and dishonest because of its monopoles.

Robber barons, specifically Andrew Carnegie, an industrialist and John D. Rockefeller, a philanthropist, were the chosen, elite members of society according to the doctrine of Social Darwinism. Darwinism is when evolution occurs and the strongest organisms of an ecosystem survive and reproduce to outnumber the weaker, less fit organisms of an ecosystem. Similarly Social Darwinism follows the same concept, but in a capitalist sense of thought. Those who were able to exploit the Gilded Age’s laissez faire economy to their own benefit, like the robber barons Andrew Carnegie of Carnegie Steel and J. D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil, were the fittest members of society because they were able to survive in the grueling and ruthless free economy. By usurping all of the fresh yet unfit immigrants that were flowing into the States due to the rise of urbanization, these two men integrated these easily-manipulated people into their factories to augment their profits.