John D. Rockefeller's Robber Baron

The definition of a Robber Baron is, “an unscrupulous plutocrat, especially an American capitalist who acquired a fortune in the late nineteenth century by ruthless means.” According to this definition John D. Rockefeller, a man who literally came from nothing, a man who had to work since he was of age to walk,write and talk and a man who built up a company with nothing but his calloused hands and back is labeled as “an unscrupulous plutocrat” and “ruthless”. John D. Rockefeller is not a Robber Baron. He is, should be, a Captain of Industry.

John D. Rockefeller was a man who worked his way to the top almost all on his own and eventually began giving away around half of his company once he became so wealthy. He once was a young man determined to become one of the wealthiest. Started out from the bottom of a company and worked so passionately at what he does to get to where he became rich. He wasn’t interested in oil right away, he sold products during the Civil War to make some cash at first but when he saw a man named Edwin Drake discover oil Rockefeller saw the future all right in front of him. Rockefeller reshaped the oil business with new techniques and ideas and made billions, taking over much smaller companies and adding them to his large empire that he has created for himself.

John D. Rockefeller is known as having been the richest man in America, the first billionaire and creator of Standard Oil; he made the modern American economy what it is today and is a well-known symbol and a house-hold name for a monopoly. In Addition Rockefeller was also one the most hated men in the country. Ida Tarbell is one of his many critics. Tarbell had firsthand experience with Rockefeller. Tarbell and her family were one of the many individuals whom were ruined by Rockefeller’s immoral practices. In addition to first-hand experience Tarbell also had much anecdotal evidence from other individuals. Individuals, who once were fearful to criticize Rockefeller, then opened up little by little to reveal their true thoughts on Rockefeller and support Tarbell. Her first article about the Monopoly was a hit and for the next years the people were gripped by Tarbell’s exposé that would soon spell disaster for Rockefeller’s Empire. Tarbell’s criticism of Rockefeller is the essence of the modern Corporate Social Responsibility theory in which she believes corporations and individuals such as Rockefeller have an obligation to give back to the society which gives them their power.

When evil people do evil things, they should not deserve being the most powerful people in our society or government. A monopoly is the exclusive possession of the supply of a good or service and that means they have complete control of an entire industry, that just doesn’t seem fair. Many monopolists are considered robber barons and some were captains of industry, however they are all in some way selfish, names like John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and Cornelius Vanderbilt come to mind. That is why I proposed a bill to target the railroad industry, the most corrupt monopoly of them all, if we can stop them we can stop everyone else. The railroad industry promotes horizontal integration, vertical integration and discriminates against smaller companies, that is why I wanted to stop them.

John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839, in Richford, New York. Rockefeller’s father owned a farm, where he traded many goods. Rockefeller's mother was very strict with their large family. Right before rockefeller was to graduate there family moved to Cleveland,Ohio in 1853. Rockefeller graduated highschool at the age of 16 and went to Commercial school for three months and began to work as a bookkeeper clerk in cleveland, Ohio. At the age of nineteen we started his first business with a Englishman named Clark. Their first year

In his childhood, John Rockefeller was the second of 6 children. His father was often gone, he was a traveling salesman as well a bigamist, and was said to have children with his wife along with his midwife. His mother worked hard in her husband’s absence, providing food and support for her seemingly fatherless children. As a kid, Rockefeller was very intelligent, and made extra money by raising turkeys, selling sweets, and doing paid labor for neighbors. In 1853 his family moved to the Cleveland, Ohio, area, where John attended high school, and very briefly, college. In 1855 at age 16, he worked as a clerk at a Cleveland commission that bought, sold and shipped grain, coal, along with other similar household objects like those. He was said to have celebrated the day when he got his first job, considering it more important than his actual birthday. In 1859, Rockefeller along with his partner established their own commission firm, and in the same same year, America’s first oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania. In 1863, Rockefeller and several partners entered the new booming oil industry by investing in an oil refinery in Cleveland.

In 1870 Rockefeller and a few other people incorporated the Standard Oil Company. Also in 1870 Rockefeller became the president for this company. He also gained monopoly of it. So what he did was he would pay for all of the companies in New York but later on the government said that he couldn’t have all of those companies. After that shut down in 1881 he tried again in 1899 but the same outcome with the government (John Davison Rockefeller, 1995). The government played a huge role in Rockefeller’s career. He also was known for his monopoly over his businesses. Also he had a thinking that everyone is wrong and he was always right ( The Men Who Built America,

B. Rockafellar who started out as a bookkeeper would then become a merchant. He then saved up money then bought his first oil refinery in 1862. Then in 1870 he would have his own oil refinery the Standard Oil Company of Ohio. His idea was that who ever had control of the oil refinery controlled the oil industry. He would then make secret agreements with railroads to ship his product for a discount. This would then drive out other competition leaving him to force high prices,

Rockefeller- Oil King, created the Standard Oil Company and followed horizontal integration by allying with competitors to monopolize the market (owned 90-95% of oil in U.S.)

John Davison Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 in Richford, New York. When Rockefeller was young his family made money by raising turkeys, selling candy, and doing jobs for the neighbors. In 1850 America’s first oil well was drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvanai. In 1853 Rockefeller and his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where John attended high school and then studied bookkeeping at commercial college. In 1855, when Rockefeller was 16, the found a job as an office clerk at a Cleveland commision firm that bought, sold, and shipped grain, coal, and other commodities. September 26 was technically the day the started his first job and entered the business world.

Eventually, the massive group of companies became known as simply, the Standard Oil Trust. At this point, Standard Oil was over 90% of all oil companies in the nation. In the prime of his business, he began experiencing depression and later found he had alopecia. This disease caused him to lose all of his body hair, because of this he began to wear wigs. Local doctors suggested that he not work so much. As successful as Rockefeller and his oil business were, success almost always brings envy and hate.

John D. Rockefeller was born July 8, 1839 in New York. He was a married man with a total of 5 kids with one of them dying at birth. His wife 's name was Laura S. Rockefeller and he married her in 1864. He always had a business mindset and he never strayed from hard work, he actually thrived on it. Even at a young age he started working harder than anyone in the room. This along with his natural talent for the business world made him a top competitor in any job he was willing to take on. Before Rockefeller had even had a job before he had walked around to local businesses and tried showing his potential and tried landing a job. He was turned down time after time but this did not

Rockefeller worked through many jobs up until he joined the oil business by investing in a refinery in Cleveland.

He, early in his career as a business owner of Clark and Rockefeller, was asked to extend credit to an important client prior to receiving a bill of lading. He refused the accommodation because he did not feel it was a “sound business” practice. He kept the business needs foremost at all times. As he expanded into the oil business with Samuel Andrews he invited his partner at that time Maurice Clark, and Maurice’s brothers Richard and James Clark. Rockefeller realized that if he focused

The Rockefeller family is an extremely wealthy American dynasty with German roots. The family members were heavily involved in the industrial, political, oil and banking businesses of America that allowed them to amass one of the world’s greatest fortunes. Primarily, the family history starts with the brothers John D Rockefeller Sr. and William Rockefeller who owned the standard oil company that controlled nearly all oil flow in the US until 1911 when it was broken into subsidiaries to end its monopoly. Nonetheless, the family continue to be involved in the oil industry and profit from it. The brothers are considered to be responsible for creating the majority of the groups wealth. They were so profitable that John D. Rockefeller Sr. became