Jay Cooke was an American Banking Financier, who operated his own banking house during the American Civil War bonds for the Federal Government. He was also recognized for his role in the financing of railroads in the northwestern United States. Donald Alexander Smith was a Canadian politician, diplomat, philanthropist and business leader who had a great deal of interest in the fur trade, railroads and banking. Jay Cooke and Donald Smith were both historical forces and instrumental in shaping the development of business. Jay Cooke was an entrepreneur who developed a method to create a productive system for government fundraising through selling bonds, whereas Donald Smith was business savvy, who strived on connections, contacts and opportunities he was faced with. The differences in conducting and operating business are very prominent but the end result in what they overall accomplished for their respective countries are very similar.
The role one plays in a respective business can be very significant and allow them to achieve success and prosper. Jay Cooke and Donald Alexander Smith are two men who fall into this category, as the role they play in their businesses, Cooke and Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), throughout their career is different but very meaningful. Donald Alexander Smith began his career immediately by obtaining an apprenticeship clerk position at the Hudson’s Bay Company, where he later began to move up the positions in eventually becoming Chief Commissioner. Smith played a very vital role in the success of HBC when they were transferring territories of the company to the government of Canada, as he was appointed mediator in order to make the transition very smooth. After holding this position he continued to work diligently in negotiating and operating the land sales of the company, where he made his own fortune by investing in many new ventures and in the development of many towns in Manitoba. Smith began to develop an interest in railroads where he and his cousin Stephan played a vital role with other investors in purchasing and developing a strong base for the development of Canadian Railroads. On the other hand Jay Cooke obtained his fortunes in a much different way, as his role in business was very significant in the establishment of Cooke & Company. Cooke was the leader of this company and an entrepreneur like no other who quickly reacted to the needs of the government during the time of the civil war. He identified what was needed; financing, and the development of a the necessary sales plan to increase the sales of bonds which will allow the government to have capital resources to continue to fight the war through borrowing from its citizens. Cooke later transferred his energies in the development of Northern Pacific Railway, which he founded and funded. Cooke’s role was vital, as instead of taking a managerial role much of his career like Smith, he was active in the development on his company, by working with the employees and assisting the marketing of bonds. Smith was a very good leader; he had a vital role in a great deal of projects, and in the transfer of HBC territories to Canada, land development. “As the HBC’s executive officer in Canada, he would lead the firms’ transformation into a land and colonization company.” He was also involved in the development of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Smith was very influential in these regards as without him the development of such a company would not be possible because of proper mediation he conducted. During the Second Industrial Revolution where there was much emphasis on the development of transportation, and larger companies in Canada and the United States, both of these men found the early need for this to develop, where they both were very active in the financing and supporting companies to create these railroads. Cooke took a much more direct and hands on approach as he was involved and responsible for the creation of such a railroad through the selling of bonds and using his own company to finance and develop the resources needed. Whereas Smith took a much more managerial role in just financing and investing in companies with this cousin and other Montreal businessmen, and not as involved as Cooke who was finding individuals like Smith to invest in railroads. Both of these businessmen were very prominent in their respective countries in allowing the rise of development and growth. Both of them used financial interest as a tool in order to provide a greater social benefit to the citizens. They allowed proper development in railroads, in addition the proper means of success for a community to be unified by railroads that served the country.
Jay Cooke and Donald Alexander Smith were two men that were instrumental in the development of business. Although their worked accomplished similar things for their countries, the method in which they achieved these accomplishments are much different when compared to each other. Jay Cooke was much more of an entrepreneur who used the unstable government at the time to generate a profit by selling bonds, concentrated all his investments railroads, with very little other investors in a project, creating a high risk and lots of exposure. Donald Smith was a leader who strived on the success and information gained by working at the Hudson’s Bay Company. He worked with many individuals and prospered on the diversification and well ranged group of investments he situated himself with. Without these two men in the history of North America the growth and development of what we had today would have been much more difficult to achieve.
Word Count: 1500 Words
Bibliography
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