Why Was Rockefeller A Captain Of Industry

Every growing economy needs competition and Rockefeller and Carnegie were no other than the two who had discovered this perfectly. Through modification and deals with private owners, these men found their way to the top just like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates do now. Windows

The next major industrial impact on the americas was from John D Rockefeller. Although the ways he started and thrived with his company was ruthless and relentless with him making his company a major and one of the first ever monopolies. Because of those actions one may refer to him as a robber baron but because of his major impact on american industry he is a captain of industry. The way Rockefeller impacted american was like never seen before. He took a struggling just staring america and turned it into one of the biggest industrial countries.

After the civil war the number of factories increased, and so did the competition between businessmen. During the year 1879 trusts were developed and trusts operated all the companies and just paid profits to the stockholders. John D. Rockefeller was one of the first to form a trust in the oil industry. The creation of the sugar, steel, and the whisky trust were established because of the successfulness of the standard oil company.

Eastman, Morgan, and Carnegie were all captains of industry. They were all captains of industry because they were top innovators in their industries. For example, Carnegie became the leader in the steel business because he introduced the Bessemer process to America. Using the Bessemer process, Carnegie produced stronger steel cheaper than before. The cheaper stronger steel led to more railroads being built and skyscrapers being created.

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.

While there are many robber barons that have existed throughout time, one of the most famously remembered robber baron, during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, was John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller was easily one of the most influential industrialist in his time. Aside from building Standard Oil into America’s largest company, he formed what was arguably the first modern multi-national company. He was innovative with how Standard Oil was structured, leading the U.S. governments changing their corporation codes and passing anti-trust legislation. His company was purposefully named, to assure customers that the oil being purchased was professionally processed to a standard.

His life growing up, gave him the experience of what the lower class people had to endure, he started out with nothing, but he took advantage of the opportunities he was presented with. Rockefeller, although he is portrayed as a robber baron, gave away more than half of his profit from the oil company, as well as donated one tenth of his income to charity. (The Trust and Monopoly) Despite being labeled falsely as a robber baron, he proved that he was a resourceful businessman that saw an opportunity and went for it, he used his resources and connections in the railroad company to earn him the millionaire status. With great power comes great responsibility, and these captains took it upon themselves, and realized that their responsibility, and duty to the nation, was to inform and educate the people on how to be successful as well.

They donated money to many different things and invented many different things we still use today, which make them philanthropists. Andrew Carnegie donated his money to a fund scientific research and also made a pension fund for teachers by donating ten million dollars (Andrew Carnegie). Andrew Carnegie also created one of the largest steel companies that was made cheaply and efficiently. John Rockefeller donated his money to donated almost half a billion dollars to educational, religious, and scientific programs. John Rockefeller was the head of the Standard Oil Company.

There had to be a way to keep the industry growing, with the needs for education, as well as materials for farming and for the use of new inventions in technology. The captains of industry were very capable in providing for these needs. In Document C, Wealth, Andrew Carnegie describes what the man of wealth was responsible for: “To produce the most beneficial results for the community- Bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves.” The conditions of the lower class at the time gave these men a leading role for priorities, which they were successful with.

Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were hardworking and used their money to help others instead of keeping it for themselves. They both started and donated to charities. Carnegie gave away most of his money before he died and established thousands of libraries.

The late 19th century was full of growth, production, and business. People were craving power and seemed to achieve this through any means necessary. Consequently, a new business elite formed consisting of the richest men alive. The way in which these individuals acquired all their profits is something very contradictory even over one-hundred years later. Some historians characterize these businessmen as “robber barons” who used extreme methods to control and concentrate wealth and power, and being supported by multiple sources, this statement is justified but only to some extent.

The Captains of Industry were certainly one of the most important factors in the development of United States in the period directly after the Civil War. While there is some merit to the argument that the industrial leaders were Robber Barons that did more harm than good, their contributions to American society clearly outweigh those negatives. The Captains of Industry quite literally revolutionized the American way of life that gave the U.S. the highest standard of living in the world prior to the outbreak of World War I. This was made possible due to the emergence of corporations in areas such as finance, steel, oil, and railroads. When these men combined with other factors, such as the mechanization of agriculture, immigration, migration,

John D. Rockefeller gave away $540 million dollars before his death at the age of 97. With this money he created two, of the world's greatest research companies and helped pull the American South out of poverty. Without Rockefeller’s gracious donations to our country through education, medical, and donations to help our country, he most definitely was a Captain of Industry which helped our country get to where we are today. Captain of Industry is a fancy term of saying that this person has helped our country thrive and get to where we are today. John D. Rockefeller is a prime example of a great leader and a captain of industry, without him we would not have the successful oil business we have today.

Andrew Carnegie was one of the most famous and wealthiest American industrialist during the Industrial Age. He was a robber baron who made a fortune in the steel industry and applied vertical integration to his business. Carnegie contradicted his views as a robber baron because he supported, but destroyed many unions. This made many of his views unethical.

The men who built America also know the innovator is a docudrama and directed by Patrick Reams and Ruan Magan. This movie focuses on the life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford, and how their innovation and leadership skills renovated the modern society. But for the purpose of this assessment my research is based on John D Rockefeller and his leadership skills. Short History of John D. Rockefeller John D Rockefeller was born in 1839 in New York to Bill and Eliza Rockefeller. From a very young age his father taught him to be smart and cunning in every deal, and also not to trust anyone in his life including his father and His mother was a fervent Baptist and tried to instill in him the importance of being a good Christian.