...George Eastman and Andrew Carnegie were Captains of Industry because they were both innovators and philanthropists. Eastman made the camera affordable to common man. Everyone could get a camera now. Carnegie made steel cheap to make and cheap to sell. Steel could now be mass produced. Eastman reinvented the camera, changing the way it was produced. His new camera was portable and easy to use. Carnegie went almost the same way, reinventing the way to make steel. Steel was bought by everyone, because now most manufacturers could afford it. Before George Eastman, taking one photo was expensive and difficult. Photography is so common nowadays, it’s a hobby for some people. Before Andrew Carnegie, there wasn’t tall skyscrapers. New York City, Chicago,...
Words: 271 - Pages: 2
...America was built on industry. But, who were the entrepreneurs that actually brought up this industry? In the early years, there were two terms known widely: a robber baron, and a captain of industry. A robber baron is defined as “an unscrupulous plutocrat, especially an American capitalist who acquired a fortune in the late nineteenth century by ruthless means.” However, a captain of industry is defined as “a business leader whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributed positively to the country in some way.” Andrew Carnegie is a name known widely, and still to this day. But, there are conspiracies: was he a robber baron, or captain of industry? Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25th, 1825 in Dunfermline, UK. He was born into a...
Words: 610 - Pages: 3
...A captain of industry or a robber baron? Many big business owners were considered to be one or the other. I believe that big business owners were different in their ways and there is not one definition that defines them all. Many big business owners were captains of industry but there were many that were robber barons. Andrew Carnegie, for example, was a captain of industry. Carnegie was an immigrant from England that lived his life off the “pennies in his pocket.” Carnegie decided to invest heavily in steel after seeing a new method of making steel called the Bessemer process which he picked up in England and brought with him to America. Carnegie began to form the Carnegie Steel Company. Carnegie was defined as a captain of industry because...
Words: 266 - Pages: 2
...Josh Jensen Mr Myer US History – 3rd Per. November 5th, 2015 Captains of Industry When you think of our history’s men of success, you think of people like John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt. These men were widely successful in their businesses, and as a result accumulated huge amounts of profits for themselves. But it has been debated throughout history whether or not they are considered “Robber Barons” or “Captains of Industry”. What this is essentially asking is whether or not they stole gave back or stole more from society in the 1850’s. I believe that the leading industrialists of the 19th and early 20th centuries were “Captains of Industry” because they gave back to the community, and provided jobs. First, let’s talk about...
Words: 532 - Pages: 3
...Captains of Industry? Or Robber Barons? [pic] Overview: The thirty years plus, following the end of the Civil War, is often referred to as the “Gilded Age”. This was a term coined by Mark Twain, the most renowned American writer of the period. It refers to a superficial period of intense economic growth. During this time, businessmen created large business organizations known as trusts. The ingenuity of these entrepreneurs earned the titles of “Captains of Industry”. Yet, their ruthlessness in building wealth at the expense of their competitors, workers and consumers often earned them the title “Robber Baron”. This DBQ (Document Based Questions) asks you to decide whether these businessmen were “Captains of Industry” or “Robber Barons”. Background Essay During the post-Civil War period, an era commonly referred to as the Gilded Age, the economy of the United States grew at a fantastic rate. With the exception of a recession during the mid-1870s, and another during the mid-1890s, the economic growth was in unprecedented in United States history. Manufacturing output increased by 180 percent. Railroads, an important catalyst of growth, increased in miles by 113 percent. Steel production grew to over 10,000,000 tons per year by 1900. Every aspect of the American economy expanded from traditional activities to new enterprises brought about by the huge influx of cutting-edge technological inventions. The gross national product almost doubled during the period and the per...
Words: 2205 - Pages: 9
...K-Sean Burrell April 24, 2013 HIS 152 Were the nineteenth century entrepreneurs Robber barons or captains of industry? Captains of Industries played a major role in the economic development of the United States during the late nineteenth century. Persevering from poverty, powerful industrialists such as John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Cornelius Vanderbilt became the utmost wealthiest businessmen in America. Driven by one motive, wealth, these men were able to control entire sectors of the economy. Interestingly, this process created new jobs, increased the availability of goods, and monetary donations towards the welfare of the people helped establish libraries, museums and colleges. Each individual is a “captain of industry” because they positively advanced establishments leading to great success for American society. Revolutionizing the petroleum industry, John D. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870 which helped businesses such as the railroad with their tariff flow. John D. Rockefeller was a genius businessman with an ambition for success. Rockefeller was able to reduce his competition by inventing new ideas such as “quantity discount”, which would charge less if the customer bought more. Rockefeller could persuade individuals to purchase his oil instead of competitors because it appeared cheaper. Quoted by John D. Rockefeller in an interview with William Hoster “I believe the power to make money is a gift of God ... to...
Words: 1093 - Pages: 5
...The American industrialists changed the faces of American corporations. They aided the United States in becoming economically successful, motivated other businesses to strive more, and provided jobs to lower classes. American industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan were more captains of industry rather than robber barons. American industrialists were captains of industry, or industrialists who benefitted society, because they have made the United States more economically successful. For example, during a decline in silver prices, investors were encouraged to trade their silver dollars for gold dollars. The bars of gold stored by the United States Treasury fell to a dangerously low level, and President Grover...
Words: 532 - Pages: 3
...“Robber Barons?” How did they work to concentrate wealth and reform capitalism? How could they be called “Robber Barons” by many, and “Captains of Industry,” by a few? In what ways were they both? Throughout history there have been very important men who have had a big impact on our industries. Without these men we would not have some of the greatest industries we have today. Men like Cornelius Vanderbilt, John Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie. These men were some of the richest men in their times, they each were very successful business men. Cornelius Vanderbilt made his fortune off of steam ships and railroads. John Rockefeller controlled the oil companies. J.P. Morgan was a successful banker and investor whose company J.P. Morgan & co is still around today. Andrew Carnegie took over the steel industry making him one of the richest men in the world when he died. (Zinn Ch 10 & 11) All these men were successful and could be called Captains of Industry but at the same time were also known as Robber Barons. In this essay I will be giving a brief history of each of those men and in what industry he made his fortune. I will also explain how each one had different aspects of their life that made people think of them as Robber Barons. Finally I will talk about how they can be considered to be both Robber Barons and Captains of Industry. The dictionary has two definitions for a Robber Baron. The first is “an American capitalist of the latter part of the 19th century...
Words: 2027 - Pages: 9
...Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller where captains of their industry because they were innovators and philanthropists. Carnegie created a new way of creating steel. Carnegie melted down steel a poured it into a shape. This new steel was stronger, lighter and cheaper. This stronger cheaper steel helped in the creation of railroads, elevators and skyscrapers. Now instead of relying on building the next floor of a building on the roof of the last, you could now build on a steel shell allowing more stories than before. Carnegie also donated money to charities and education. He donated $350 million dollars into public education. Also he built over 2500 libraries. Carnegie donated money instead of using it for personal use. He could...
Words: 258 - Pages: 2
...Andrew Carnegie: A Tribute "My heart is in the work." -- Andrew Carnegie Neither a rags-to-riches biographical sketch nor a perfectly scanned-in image of Mr. Carnegie could serve as as great a personal tribute to the great Founder of Libraries, the earnest Champion of Peace and the resolute Captain of Industry as presenting his own words online--available electronically and immediately to the whole world through the World Wide Web. He would be tickled pink. Mr. Carnegie loved to promote his ideas and opinions in print. As one of America's most successful businessmen and, perhaps, the world's richest man, it can be assumed that he felt his opinions and advice were not without proven merit. In fact, his journalistic career had begun early when the young man found himself barred from free membership in Col. James Anderson's "Mechanics' and Apprentices' Library." In 1853 Carnegie took the matter to the pages of the Pittsburgh Dispatch; and, as Joseph Wall notes in his definitive biography of Andrew Carnegie, the victory the young man won through his letters to the editor left a lasting impression: It was also his first literary success, and for Andrew nothing else that he had known in the way of recognition by others had been quite as exhilarating as this experience of seeing his own words in print. It fed his vanity and at the same time increased his appetite for more such food. At that moment a journalistic ambition was born which he would spend the remainder of his life...
Words: 1076 - Pages: 5
...Andrew Carnegie was born November 25, 1835. He was born in Dunfermline, United Kingdom. He was a Scottish-American industrialist who became a very wealthy owning an American steel industry in the late 1800s. Before accomplishing that he worked many different railroad jobs. He got his first job when he was only 13 years old, making 1.20 per week. Then around 1889 he became owner of Carnegie Steel Corporation, which was the largest of its kind in the world. After becoming the richest man in world he retired to pursue being more of a philanthropic person. He founded the Carnegie Institution, teachers with a $10 million donation and he also wanted to give money to support education and reading. While working for the railroad, Carnegie began making investments. He made many wise choices and found that his investments, especially those in oil, brought in substantial returns. In 1865 He left the railroad industry to focus on his other business interests. By the next decade, most of Carnegie's time was dedicated to the steel industry. His business, which became known as the Carnegie Steel Company, revolutionized steel production in the United States. Carnegie built plants around the country, using technology and methods that made manufacturing steel easier, faster and more productive....
Words: 647 - Pages: 3
...Billy Rudnik Silverman U.S. History 1 5/14/16 Late 19th Century Tycoons Assignment Several nineteenth-century industrialists are debated as both "captains of industry" and "robber barons". These include people such as J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew W. Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller. The term “Robber Baron”combines the concept of a criminal robber with an illegitimate aristocrat baron and means becoming wealthy by unethical means. For example. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company of Ohio controlled 90 percent of the refining business. Rockefeller reaped huge profits by paying his employees extremely low wages and driving his competitors out of business by selling his oil at a lower price than it cost to produce it. Then, when...
Words: 316 - Pages: 2
...Captain of Industry Debate "You cannot push any one up a ladder unless he be willing to climb a little himself." -Andrew Carnegie. Business is not everything, but it is a major part of shaping America into what it is today. People like Rockefeller, Carnegie, Edison, Vanderbilt, Ford, and J.P. Morgan climbed the ladder to gain the riches and help develop America into an industrial giant. Rockefeller with oil, Carnegie with steel, Vanderbilt with railroads, Edison with electricity, Ford with automobiles, and Morgan with banking all made America an extremely wealthy country. These men helped the U.S. economy, donated a lot of money, and helped dramatically shape our country's future. Industry was up, but the U.S. economy was somewhat struggling....
Words: 446 - Pages: 2
...men such as Andrew Carnegie, Philip Danforth Armour, Jay Gould, and John D. Rockefeller, all powerful leaders of a new national business community.” Out of Many Volume Two. Edition Four. Page 567 The wealth and power of the United States can be accounted for through some of the bigger names of the late 1800’s and 1900’s. Big businesses came from big names during this time. While the more popular view is to see big businesses as negative, these figures saw business as a chance to grow and took advantage of this and the wealth that came along with it. Andrew Carnegie, known for his roll in dominating the steel industry. Philip Danforth Armour, known for adding to the industrialization of the meat-packing industry. Jay Gould, who was an american railroad finance is one of the less liked wealthy men in the book. John D. Rockefeller is a perfect example of wealth from horizontal integration through gaining the majority of the oil supply. One of the more popular names is Andrew Carnegie. Known as the “captain of industry” and “the richest man in the world,” started from nothing and worked his way up in life. He began his life as a poor immigrant from Scotland and eventually grew from being a messenger, to the secretary for the superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s. His employment under the superintendent allowed him to learn how business works and eventually step into the roll of superintendent himself. Being smart with his new earned money, Carnegie invested...
Words: 794 - Pages: 4
...Technological innovations in the Gilded Age has had a huge impact on life today. Many of the innovations made in that day are still being used today, although due to business competition things we're taken out of hand big impacts were made through people such as Nicola Tesla and Thomas Eddison. The light bulb made by Thomas Eddison has had such a huge impact on our lives even today, without the invention of the light bulb we could possibly still be using kerosene or another type of gas to generate light for us. Nicola Tesla invented a different form of electricity apart from Eddison's form of electricity, Tesla's electricity was known as AC or Alternate Current and Eddisons DC or Direct Current. The Alternate Current was a more...
Words: 296 - Pages: 2
