Essay On Robber Barons - 994 Words

Robber Barons Essay Carson Kane Advanced American Studies October 6, 2017 The industrial revolution sprouted many industrialists that exploited the laws of the United States. These industrialists like Carnegie and Rockefeller collected vast amounts of wealth that were extremely unnecessary for the society at that time while the common citizens of the U.S. were having trouble with poverty and working conditions. They used shady and unorthodox tactics to take control of the country s wealth and power. They took advantage of the poor and the ideals in the U.S. to further their own wealth. These industrialists were morally bad people and used loopholes to make their way to the top and gain more wealth than any other men in the United States.†¦show more content†¦This turns oil into kerosene and gasoline which was crucial at this time for lamps and other operations until electricity was discovered and the automobile was invented. Rockefeller took control and revolutionized the supply chain in his oil refining business by forcing railroad companies to g ive him rebates on shipping oil and buying different suppliers of items needed for oil refinery (vertical integration). Rockefeller also bought out other small oil companies, and the ones who refused would be subject to price wars (horizontal integration). Standard Oil’s prices were so unbeatable that no one could compete so all other oil refineries went out of business. At Standard Oil’s best, Rockefeller controlled 90% of the United States’ oil refining business (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Rockefeller). This left thousands of businesses going bankrupt and caused the citizens of the U.S. to lose extravagant amounts of money and losing their jobs. Later laws illegalized this kind of monopolizing because of Standard Oil’s immoral business tactics (Sherman Anti-trust Act). This act forced him to disband his company to several smaller ones but he was able to get around monopoly laws because he owned shares in a lot of these companies. Rockefeller now had a net worth of over 300 billion dollars when adjusted for inflation. Rockefeller had dominated the oil refining business and leeched off of America’s economy. Another example of an industrialist that leeched offShow MoreRelated The Robber Barons Essay733 Words   |  3 PagesThe Robber Barons When the names Carnagie, Rockefeller, and Pullman come to mind, most of us automatically think of what we saw or read in our history books: These men were kind and generous and through hard work and perseverance, any one of you could become a success story like them, right? Wrong. I am sick of these people being remembered for the two or three good deeds they have done. 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