Robber Barons Research Paper

Being an industrial worker in the late 19th-century in America was not a simple life. Even at the best times the pay was small and the time spent at work was long in dangerous conditions. Most of the money derived in America went to the actual workforce. Women and children suffered the most however, making up the majority of the workers and only receiving a small percentage of what a man could make. Different periods of economic crises tokk the nation by storm, also breaking down the amount of wages from industrial work and increasing the total population of the unemployed.

The Gilded Age after the Civil War caused the American economy to grow drastically during the 1870s. Due to the manufacturing business spreading across the nation, entrepreneurs such as Andrew Carnegie, J.P Morgan and John D. Rockefeller were considered the “captains of industry” who helped grow the economy. But, there were some who believed these entrepreneurs were “robber barons,” as people who worked in the manufacturing business were treated badly, underpaid, and forced to work long hours in dangerous circumstances. Although these so called “captains of industries” may have helped the economy when it needed them the most, they perfectly represented the term given to their era, the Gilded Age, where their monopolies and gold exterior came from their dangerous and “robber baron” factory working.

The “Captains of Industry” (Carlyle, 1843) were men that furthered the Industrial Revolution and gain a large sum of money in the wake. Andrew Carnegie, known for his advancements of the steel industry, John Rockefeller, oil tycoon and Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, are just a few of the men that helped to shape the industrial era. As always, with great gain comes great losses and the people who worked for these men were not always treated properly. The mass amount of population willing to work and able to do the jobs created by these industries, drove down the amount of wages the owners were willing to pay. Skilled workers were often replaced by unskilled replacements if they became unhappy about the work load (Leonard 1979). The lack of government regulations on the businesses also contributed to the conditions the workers were forced to endure to make those small wages. Soon the labors joined forces to create unions and would strike to show this disapproval with the system the owners had created. Most of these strikes would end in violence due to the works demands not being met. Fortunately, these unions did create safer working environments, helped to raise wages and outlawed the child labor within the

Between the years 1870-1900, Americans began to respond to the effects fostered by these corporations. From urban factory workers to rural farmers, Americans began to organize against these big businesses. With mass industrialization, more job’s were made available to women, these jobs were often in factories with terrible conditions, sweatshops. There was a sameness about working in mass production factories. Thus, working in these modern mass production factories created a homogenous environment that diminished individualism and the need for skilled workers. (Doc. C) Strikers were common during this era, workers participated in strikes and joined labor unions, such as The American Federation of Labor and the Knights of Labor, due to the terrible working conditions. The American Federation of Labor, headed by Samuel Gompers, was specifically for skilled workers and argued for better wages and a reduction in working hours. (Doc. G) Although urban workers were greatly impacted by the growth of these corporations, they were not the ones. Farmers, suffered

The 1860s to 1920s was known as the gilded age in the United States of America. Immigrants moved to the U.S. to have a better life but when they arrived, they an unexpected situation. In the gilded age, Robber barons or business owners made a tremendous amount of money. Most of them accomplished this by using monopolies and trusts which led them to gain power and money. While money was flowing in the United States, the lower class population lived in tenements, where diseases would spread fast and comfort was not available. Workers had to work more than twelve hours a day and they could lose parts of their bodies in the machines and therefore get fired. Children worked as much as their parents did. They were in a position of

During the Gilded Age, America and the lives of her citizens changed in irreversible ways. No longer did the common man control his own fate. Instead, an elite group of egomaniacal and so called industrial giants bought and sold their way to power, working the system to benefit their own selfish needs. When looking at the immeasurable greed of the tycoons, the horrible conditions they supplied for their workers, and the impoverishment of the common man, it can be concluded that the tycoons of the late 19th century are most accurately described as “robber barons”.

J. P. Morgan was a robber baron because he was born into a wealthy family and did not have to completely start from the bottom and build his success from there. However, A. Carnegie, C. Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller were Captains of Industry because they were not derive from a family where financial support, a solid education, and a business where handed to them. Also the three men, A. Carnegie, C. Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller all substantially donated back into the community. Carnegie Library, Vanderbilt University, Rockefeller University, and foundations such as the Rockefeller foundations were due to the generosity of these three men who donated back to the community. Therefore, A. Carnegie, C. Vanderbilt, and John D.

Factory conditions were terrible. The fumes, the loud noise of machines, and poor lighting. Also the machines did not have safety devises incase of emergencies. The people who worked in the factories were men, women and children aging 5 and above. However, this period had a vast growth of a new middle class that were now as rich as the aristocrats and sadly the factory workers had little economical and political power which made them bond together and try to improve their working and living conditions.

This is when unions came into play, one being The Knights of Labor, the main goal of these unions was to raise wages up to a fair amount so that those who had a full time job would make enough money to survive and not barely scrape by, this is where the idea of “Minimum wage” stems from in our country. Also to increase the work conditions. The working conditions in factories during early industrialization were so piss poor that dying on duty was not an uncommon thing, people were also losing limbs and spreading diseases rapidly through these factories. And if that was not enough they had children working in these jobs as

John Pierpont Morgan was born on April 17 1837. The Morgan family was a rather influential family, J.P’s father was a successful business man and HIS father was a successful Wall Street banker. When john was thirteen his father was invited to be a partner in the London banking business owned by dry goods merchant George Peabody. Than young J.P. was taken out of the Boston’s English high school and was enrolled into a private school in Switzerland where after two years he was transferred to the University of Gottingen in Germany. In 1857 the now twenty year old J.P. was installed by his father into Duncan Sherman and co (Peabody’s American representive). Than from 1860 to 1864 he acted as an agent in New York for his fathers firm renamed J.S. Morgan and company upon Peabody’s retirement in 1864. In 1871 he partnered with the Drexel’s of Philadelphia to form the company of Drexel, Morgan and company. After the death of Mr. Drexel the firm had the original name changed

Between 1860 and the 1910 the United States population tripled. Because of this, industry was in high demand for skilled and unskilled workers, and the abundance of immigrants helped keep it supplied. This helped the empowerment of bosses of the leading industries the Unites States. Working in a 17th century factory did not have ideal working conditions, on average, a 12 hour work day was not uncommon, as well as child labor. Often time’s, factory owners neglected worker rights and safety in factories leading to accidents, such as chopped off fingers, and other injuries without compensation. If a worker was seriously injured or refused to work they were gladly replaced with another.

In 19th century America there were many changes in industrialization and capitalism which impacted the working class. One such change was the rise of unskilled labor; before the industrial revolution most people if not employed in agriculture relied on skilled trade. Meaning people had to have training and skill in order to create merchandise of a higher quality. However, with the rise of industrialization large factories began to take over the production of goods. These big businesses also began to turn to unskilled labor due to the fact that it was easier than hiring skilled laborers. Factories employed unskilled laborers because they were cheap and easily replaceable. This allowed factories to significantly grow in size and dominate the market. Such domination of the market forced the majority of smaller business to close their doors due to the fact that the factories could produce a higher quantity of goods for a smaller price. This affected the working class because their options for employment quickly decreased to the extent that their only option was to work for these big businesses. Due to the fact that unskilled laborers were easily disposable, large factories began to take advantage of their employees. Big businesses would take advantage of their workers by forcing them to work in unsanitary, unhealthy, and even dangerous conditions for very little pay. The life of a working class citizen was a difficult one, and the lives of these workers are reflected in the

Their whole objective was to produce output at a greater rate, cheaper. Schlosser explains that, “With innovative technology and the proper organization, a small number of workers can produce an enormous amount of goods cheaply” (69). The technological breakthroughs that were made were extremely beneficial to firms. They could now sell their product for even less. But the advancement of technology wasn’t beneficial for everyone. The breakthroughs decreased the demand for labor because firms simply no longer needed as much labor to produce great quantities of output anymore. With the decrease in demand for labor, there was a subsequent decrease in the price of labor. In a perfectly competitive wage market, the price of labor is set where the supply of labor intersects the demand of labor. This was seen in the 1900s in the fast food industry as the wages were set below the equilibrium price due to technological advancements. The wage market in the fast food industry was another place where economic principles were evident in the real

It was usually was owned and managed by one or more people, who were close to the workers. There was a good worker/boss relationship, which was destroyed by capitalism1. The longer it took one person to manufacture a product, the higher the price. Since it took time to make the goods, the prices were extremely high, and only the wealthy could afford them.

The working conditions during the Industrial Revolution were very harsh and unforgiving. The unemployment rate was high being around 50%. The reason this unemployment rate was so high is that many people lost their jobs. The discovery of steam-powered machinery made people who manufactured goods by hand useless because they couldn’t work at the rate machines could. For the people who were fortunate enough to have a job, their hours and pay were bad as well. The average man worked fourteen to sixteen hours a day with 4-day weeks and were only payed about $8-10 a week. That’s about 10 cents an hour.