In the Late 19th and early 20th century the American economy
drastically switched from relying on farming to industry. This time period was
known as the age of industrial growth. The lucky businessmen who knew how to do
business created monopolies at this time. A monopoly is when a single
corporation controls all of a product or industry. The monopolistic leaders at
this time were crucial in the success of the economy as a whole. The actions of
these leaders affected the common worker, but did their actions affect in a
good or bad way? That was the question of the day. In order to search for an
answer we were given many sources to read and analyze, such as biographies of
big time leaders and video lessons of that time period. As a group, we put all
of the components from these sources together to figure out how the actions of
monopolistic leaders altered the life of a common worker.
John D Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were two of the
wealthiest names at this time. John D. Rockefeller was the co-founder of the
Standard Oil Company. Rockefeller business practices were cut-throat and he was
able to wipe out almost all of the rival oil companies. He did this by lowering
and raising his prices often so surrounding companies could no longer compete,
then he bought the fallen company and turned it into part of his own. Andrew
Carnegie was also a tough businessman. Carnegie started off in a poor family
but soon became one of the wealthiest men in America. After working as a bobbin
boy and a messenger for a telegram office, Carnegie went into the steel
business. He noticed that the steel production industry was struggling.
Carnegie invested in this business and made a stronger, cheaper version of
steel. He managed every process of producing the steel, which added
dramatically to his bank account.
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| John D. Rockefeller source-http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h957.html |
Rockefeller and Carnegie did not keep the money to
themselves. Along with using it to invest more in their companies, and using it
to their advantage during the Great Depression, their money was also given to
the public. Both men were philanthropist. Philanthropist are people who seek to
promote welfare in others, especially by donations of money. Carnegie wrote his
beliefs and believed that a person's life should have 2 stages: accumulation of
wealth and then the distribution of that wealth back to the community.
Rockefeller and Carnegie were active in giving back and donating to education,
medicine, science, and other things in the communities. Not just the average
worker, but the average citizen benefited from these men's generous actions.
The American economy also benefited from these large companies the men lead.
But these leaders’ reputations did not stay sweet for long.
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| Andrew Carnegie source-http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/peopleevents/pande01.html |
Over time Rockefeller and Carnegie were referred to as
‘Robber barons’ and were attacked by the media. Robber Barons are cruel leaders
during the industrial growth who gained their fortune by unfair ways and
crushing the competition. Other business men loathed Rockefeller because they
believed his ways were too cut- throat and many lost their businesses. People
became to think these men were run by greed. During the time of being criticized
by the public, Rockefeller continued to donate to several charities. In 1892 a
strike arose in one of Carnegie's mills, the Homestead. Carnegie wanted to get
rid of the Homestead Union and bring in Strikebreakers, people who are hired to
replace the people on strike, after he said that he would never do such a
thing. The Homestead workers were furious and knew about Carnegie's plan. The
workers attacked the Pinkerton soldiers that were hired to guard Homestead and
the Strikebreakers that were coming in. This ended in a bloody battle. The
world press scolded him and the event scared Carnegie for the rest of his life.
These actions and accusations enraged the average workers and made them resent
the big leaders. Some were directly affected by either the strike at Homestead
or losing a business.
As you can see, the Monopolistic leaders, such as
Rockefeller and Carnegie, both hurt and helped the average worker. Both men
monopolized their industry so it was very difficult for men already in the oil
and steel business to stay afloat. Carnegie hurt his workers during the
Homestead Strike, and both he and Rockefeller were later criticized by the
public and media. At the same time their monopolies helped better the economy.
Although they were said to be people only influenced by greed they continued to
donate to charity and help better people's lives.
The sources given, I found to be very reliable and helpful.
I thought the way we organized the research in our class was the most efficient
way possible. Each group read each source but focused on different topics, like
important people, key terms, etc. We then had a combined google doc to share all
of our information. It was very easy to learn about this time period and these
people through this process. You could read about the same information but in
different ways, a way of learning that I find very effective. I would recommend
this style of analyzing text for future research activities.
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