Carnegie and Rockefeller

After the civil war, industry boomed. The country that was once in shambles needed to turn around and become a powerful nation once again. There were businesses being created all the time, and the market was being flooded. Thus came Survival of the Fittest, in a business sense. The companies that didn't have the funds, the brains, and the power to stay alive and sell product during this time were eliminated. Along with this, the government took the Laissez Faire, which was the policy that they would leave the businesses alone. Corporations flourished because the companies needed money and the people wanted shares in these new, big, companies. Two men at the forefront of this movement were Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller. Some argued that they were robber-barons, a person that was unsportsmanlike. They bought out and destroyed rival companies, bribed government officials, created giant monopolies, and more. Others would say they were Captains of Industry, who were business leaders in the country. Carnegie and Rockefeller were Captains of Industry because they advanced the quality of business and product for American citizens.


Carnegie is a Captain of Industry for many reasons. First, he revolutionized the steel industry in America. He used the strategy of vertical integration, which means that he owned all aspects of the supply chain. This means that he can control the business from top to bottom, and this maximizes his profits. His steel industry in America eventually passed that of Britain. He also wrote the book Wealth, which was about the upper class Americans of the time. It was about proper etiquette, and more importantly what you should do with your wealth. He said that if you were wealthy, you should give back, to improve the quality of the community as a whole. This was important for him because he came from a very poor childhood, and he knew that giving back would help kids like he was when he was young. He gave millions to the advancing of education, the creation of public libraries, and promoting world peace. Because of the way he was able to get large amounts of steel for such a cheap price through his connections in England, he shut down most of the other steel manufacturers in America. In the end, Carnegie is a Captain of Industry because he created one of the largest businesses in America and he was able to give much of his profits back to charity as well.

Rockefeller was also a business leader in America. He started the Standard Oil Company, which became the biggest oil company in America at the time. He did this by buying up his rival companies and destroying them, giving himself a monopoly on the oil industry. Because he did this, he was able to make the price of oil much cheaper, (as there were no competitors) which was beneficial for the people of America. Many people were opposed to Rockefeller's ways of business. First, many people lost jobs when their companies were destroyed by Standard Oil Company. Also, it was frowned upon to use these tactics in business. With his great wealth, Rockefeller gave money for the advancements of education, medicine, and science. While many of Rockefeller's business tactics may seem like that of a robber baron, Rockefeller was a Captain of Industry because he grew into a business leader of America whose successful model of business gave Americans to have a cheaper source of oil.


Carnegie and Rockefeller