Friday, September 8, 2017

Rockefeller: Captain of Industry or Robber Baron? (Adrienne Mitchel)

On Friday we watched a documentary that highlighted the lives of four industrialists — Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Morgan, and Rockefeller — and completed a document in which we had to determine if their actions were more positive or more negative. Although all of these influential men had very interesting stories, in this post I will only go in-depth about Rockefeller and discuss if he was more a Captain of Industry or a Robber Baron.
As a child, John D. Rockefeller was divided between his mother, who was a thrifty and shrewd woman, and his father, who was a devious con-man, and eventually he determined that he would not follow in his dad’s footsteps. In 1870, Rockefeller formed an oil refining corporation named Standard Oil. In order to expand his corporation, Rockefeller merged and bought out other companies, a process called horizontal integration. He also made deals with railroads that agreed to discount his shipments, which allowed Standard Oil to cut its oil prices. This resulted in competitors to either be sold to Standard Oil or go bankrupt, which consequently added to Rockefeller’s power. Standard Oil had become a monopoly, a company that completely dominates a particular industry, by 1882. At this peak of power, Standard Oil controlled 90% of the nation’s oil production. Carnegie became a philanthropist, using his fortune to establish the University of Chicago in 1892 and creating many charitable organizations that supported various fields.

Rockefeller’s actions definitely displayed qualities that were both positive and negative. However, I believe he was more a Captain of Industry than a Robber Baron. Although the methods in which he drove his competitors out of business may have been slightly illegal and the working conditions in his factories weren’t the best, Rockefeller earned his enormous success by taking chances and seizing opportunities, fulfilling and exceeding what many would consider the American Dream. He managed to be extremely efficient and productive in his output and created jobs for many other Americans. Rockefeller’s actions undoubtedly helped contribute to the booming economy and consumer society of the United States today.

2 comments:

  1. I agree with your point of Rockefeller being more of a Captain of Industry. Back in the days, there weren't exactly rules on what they could or couldn't do, kind of similar but not similar to the black market in a way. As long as those people were successful, society couldn't really do anything against them in fear of what could potentially happen to them. Rockefeller's business with the oil industry proved the fact that anyone could be successful if they tried hard enough and that if one had all the control over the economy, they could potentially turn the tide for every other business in the town, making it better or worse. An example where he'd made the business for others worse was his overall control over the oil industry and threatening, forcing them to join him or be vanquished.

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  2. I agree with your view that Rockefeller was a Captain of Industry because he although he took over all of the other competitors, he made prices for oil much cheaper for the public. By producing so much oil for a reasonable price, automobiles were able to become a big part of how Americans could live their life. Since he was not born into a rich family, he had the motivation to become successful and prove his self worth to his father. He was also an example to the theory of "rags to riches" which means that one does not have to be raised wealthy to have success in life. This was able to influence many poor people into making themselves into a prosperous human being.

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