Robber Baron Document Rankings

Power Rank 1:  Document Number: 7

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
This document was written by a commission in the U.S. government, and is fully supportive of ideas presented by Rockefeller. This shows that in the late 19^th century, methods practiced by the Standard Oil Company and other monopolists were backed by the government.

Power Rank 2:  Document Number: 15

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
Document 15 is a sarcastic “prayer” written from a worker to Andrew Carnegie, as if Carnegie is God and worker is just a low level human. This document shows some examples of the treatment that laborers went through at this time, and the satirical nature tells that they were unsatisfied by it.  

Power Rank 3:  Document Number: 14

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
In document 14, Andrew Carnegie presents his view on giving aid to the poor. It shows that some “robber barons” were at times philanthropic, while at the same time presenting the idea of social Darwinism as justification for not giving TOO much to the poor.

Power Rank 4:  Document Number: 12

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
Document 12 is a speech by Wendell Phillips in which he presents one of the more radical viewpoints of laborers, discussing such things as completely overthrowing “the whole profit-making system.” This document shows the extreme that laborers’ frustration could reach

Power Rank 5:  Document Number: 9

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?

Document 9 is an interview with the railway tycoon William H. Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt displays his total disdain for the idea that someone should work for someone else’s gain or give to anyone but themselves. He shows the quintessential view of a robber baron in this document. 

Age of Railroads

1. What problems did employees of the railroad companies face?
The railroads that spanned the continent were mostly built by immigrants and desperate Civil War veterans. These workers faced horrible working conditions, even by the standards of the 19^th century. They were working in extremely treacherous terrain; the Chinese building from the west had to cross the Rocky Mountains. The workers also had to worry about attacks from Indians, angry at the raping of their land. Not to mention, if any diseases were contracted while working on the railroad, there were no hospitals anywhere nearby. For the most part, when you got sick, you were dead. Constant accidents led to even more deaths and injuries as well. In 1888, there were an estimated 2,000 deaths and 20,000 injuries in the process of building the railroads.

2. What was it like to live as a Pullman employee in the town of Pullman?
At first, living in Pullman seemed luxurious to the employees of the Pullman Company. They had good housing, and all the necessities for life were provided for them. However, it came at a price. The town was very strictly controlled by the company. Pullman wanted to foster a productive work environment, so he allowed no alcohol or loitering in the town. There was a financial price as well. In the late 19^th century, Pullman cut all the employees pay without lowering the rent, which sparked a huge strike. This strike was likely the manifestation of years of frustration from and overly controlling company.

3. Who was involved in Crédit Mobilier, and what was the purpose of this company?
Stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad created the company Crédit Mobilier. They then used this company to make incredibly huge profits by contracting railroads for two to three times the cost. This company was used to make money for the stockholders in Union Pacific Railroad, which included some members of congress. This corruption led to a federal investigation of the company, and found the stockholders to have about $23 million dollars of corrupt profit from the company.

4. In what ways did the railroad companies use their power to hurt farmers?
Railroad companies were giving huge land grants by the government in order to build the railroads, and the government had the intention that they’d sell the rest of the land to settlers in order to spur the agriculture in the west. The companies did not do this; they simply sold it to other companies for a higher profit. With the agricultural industry shrinking already, the railroad companies made it even more difficult for farmers to get out of debt when they created fixed prices. However, if a farmer needed to transport materials over a short distance and had only on railroad company that was close enough, this company would demand outrageously high prices, knowing they were the only option.

5. Why didn’t the decision in the Munn v. Illinois case succeed in checking the power of the railroads?
Munn v. Illinois was a court case regarding the Granger laws, which were a form of public outcry against the power of the railroad companies. The Supreme Court rules in favor of the Grangers, stating that the companies had to “establish maximum freight and passenger rates and prohibit discrimination.” This sounds like a win for the Grangers, but the slightly ambiguous wording led to another court decision saying that the government couldn’t set rates on interstate commerce. This went back on the precedent of government regulation that had been set in Munn v. Illinois.

6. Why didn’t the Interstate Commerce Act immediately limit the power of the railroads? 
The Interstate Commerce Act reinforced the precedent of regulation set by Munn v. Illinois. It gave the government power to regulate the railroad industry once again. However, it ended up being quite ineffectual. The legal process for bringing the companies to justice was incredibly long and arduous. Not to mention, in 1897, the Supreme Court ruled that the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) could not set maximum railroad rates. This ruling almost completely took away the little power that the ICC had. 

Big Business and Labor

1. Vertical integration

A. Vertical integration is buying out all the companies that control the various parts of whatever industry you’re in in order facilitate moneymaking in the industry.


B. In the case of Andrew Carnegie, he bought the producers of the raw supplies for steel and the trains that distributed it. This allowed Carnegie to produce and distribute steel much more efficiently and make more money from it.

2. Horizontal integration

A. Horizontal integration is the process of buying out other companies that produce the same or similar products in order to gain more control in the industry.


B. Andrew Carnegie bought most of the other companies that produced steel, reducing his competition. This allowed him to control the prices of steel and make much more money from the manufacturing.


3. Social Darwinism

A. Social Darwinism is a theory of the evolution of society and industry based on Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. This was used as justification for “laissez faire”, meaning we should just let the marketplace go unregulated, and the strongest companies will survive while weaker ones will fail.


B. This justification allowed Andrew Carnegie to do pretty much whatever he wanted in his industry without being interrupted by regulations stepping in. He was able to buy up weaker companies and continue to grow his strong ones, referencing survival of the fittest the whole time.


4. Monopoly

A. A monopoly is when one organization has complete control over an industry’s prices, wages, and, production.


B. When a company such as Carnegie Steel held a monopoly over its industry, they could control every aspect of the industry and make as much money possible. They were able to transport and distribute supplies in a cheaper way, and then sell them for higher prices as they had gotten rid of the competition. This meant more profit.


5. Holding company

A. A holding company was a corporation that only bought out the stock of other companies.


B. These companies allowed for business owners to gain a monopoly much more easily. Making the sole purpose of the company buying out other companies streamlined the process of gaining a monopoly. These holding companies used other company’s success to grow their monopoly.


6. Trust

A. Trust agreements are when two companies put their stock into a board of trustees, who then control the two corporations as if they were one large one.


B. Trusts allowed corporations to make money off of their mergers simply by making an agreement. They also helped companies like Standard Oil to gain a monopoly, when John D. Rockefeller used a system of trusts to gain control of almost all the oil in America.  


7. The perception of tycoons as “robber barons”

C. How did it harm businesses such as Standard Oil and tycoons like John D. Rockefeller?
  As Rockefeller and other tycoons began to use questionable methods to gain more and more control over their industries,  they began to be accused of being robber barons. John D. Rockefeller and others began having to show the public that they were not money hungry villains. So, Rockefeller started the Rockefeller Foundation. He gave away over $500 million through this foundation for charity, as well as funding part of the University of Chicago. He created a very important medical institute as well. These contributions were good for society, but took away from Rockefeller’s personal fortune.

8. Sherman Antitrust Act

C. How did it harm businesses such as Standard Oil and tycoons like John D. Rockefeller?
   The Sherman Antitrust Act made it illegal to make a trust that limited free trade. This Act affected John D. Rockefeller because he had built his entire corporation and monopoly on trusts. Other companies as well, were forced to shift their organization and become one large corporation, but this cost money to do. The negative effects ended up being pretty limited, since the federal government had a very difficult time enforcing this law. 

Expansion of Industry

Factor 1: Abundant Natural Resources

A. Which resources played crucial roles in industrialization?

The two natural resources that played the biggest role in industrialization were coal, oil and steel. Oil was found below the earth’s surface, while steel was made by removing the carbon from iron ore. Coal was found underground and was mined as well.

B. How did Edwin L. Drake help industry to acquire larger quantities of oil?

In 1859, outside of Titusville, Pennsylvania, Edwin L. Drake successfully used a steam engine to drill oil from the earth’s surface. This was the first time this had ever been done and it made the process of drilling oil practical, hence making oil a more practical fuel. This led to an oil boom throughout the western United States.

C. How did the Bessemer process allow better use of iron ore?

Iron is very impractical metal to build with. It is soft and extremely prone to rusting and breaking. Around 1850, William Kelly and Henry Bessemer created a process for removing the carbon from iron ore, which turned it into the much stronger metal, steel. The Bessemer process, as it was called, was done by injecting air into iron while it was molten. This removed the carbon and other impurities at the same time.  

D. What new uses for steel were developed at this time?
  As steel became more practical to both use and manufacture, more uses began to arise for it. It was a very important material for building the railroads across the continent. Iron was too weak to handle the weight and speed of the trains, but steel could do it. At this time, cities were growing rapidly. A need began to appear for taller buildings, so you could have more offices in one area of land. Iron highly limited the size of the buildings, since if they were too tall they would collapse on themselves.   

Factor 2: Increasing number of Inventions

A. How did Thomas Alva Edison contribute to this development? 

Thomas Alva Edison was the first innovator to harness the power of electricity effectively with his invention of the incandescent light bulb. He created a method for producing electricity and distributing it to people all around America. This paved the way for other inventors to make inventions based off of electricity.

B. How did George Westinghouse contribute to it? 

George Westinghouse improved on Edison’s design, making electricity safer and less expensive. This allowed electricity to be a viable source of electricity for average Americans, not just those with money. This spurred the boom of invention that began with Edison even more. Now inventors were working on inventions that could help everyday Americans, such as household appliances. This new energy source also allowed manufacturers to move to places where they weren’t directly adjacent to a source of energy.

C. How did Christopher Sholes contribute? 

Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter in 1867. This revolutionized the world of office work. This invention created thousands of jobs for women in the office. From 1870-1910, only 40 years, the percentage of office work done by women grew from 5% to 40%.

D. How did Alexandar Graham Bell contribute? 

   Alexander Graham Bell revolutionized the world of communication with the invention of the telephone. This allowed people to communicate instantaneously across the country. The telephone also led to the previously mentioned increase in jobs for women. This invention allowed for the communication of ideas faster than ever before. 

Tarbell's History of Standard Oil

1. How did Rockefeller set out to acquire control of the oil industry?
          

           Rockefeller acquired the oil industry through taking control of the organization and the manner in which oil was sold. Previously, refineries sent oil straight to their own agents throughout the country, where these agents sold the oil to households and companies. Rockefeller set out to making all the agents selling oil work for him. These agents would still report to the same refinery, who would report to a main regional business, who would eventually report to John D. Rockefeller at the top, making money from all the businesses below him.

2. Do you think Rockefeller deserved to be called a "robber baron?" Why or why not?

            

            I think it is fair to some extent to call Rockefeller a “robber baron”. This term generally refers to a businessman who used questionable methods to achieve their wealth. It is clear that Rockefeller was very determined when he put his mind to something, and perhaps in the process of acquiring a whole business this could have led him down some questionable roads. It is very unlikely that in the process of taking over an entire industry, he wouldn’t dabble in some, perhaps, alternative business methods. However, it is also unlikely that this was his goal from the beginning; his original goal was to use his cunning and intelligence to make money of a blossoming industry.