Reading Response
“At the helm stood such unimaginably wealthy 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 in the steel business. After leaving the railroad business, Carnegie started up his own business in steel, the Carnegie Steel Company. His company reinvented the way to get things done, Carnegie mastered vertical integration. Owning everything necessary to make steel, everything from the transportation necessary to the coal