Robber Barons: James Fisk And Jay Gould

Robber barons, famously known for their ruthless means of acquiring wealth back in the late nineteenth century. They were awful. They were complete menaces to society and only ever created wealth for themselves. Or, at least that 's what is commonly taught in high school American history classes, but author Burton Folsom Jr. offers an unique alternative perspective in his book, The Myth of the Robber Barons. He provides a closer look at the results achieved by these infamous robber barons to give insight into what actually happened in the wake of these entrepreneurs’ conducted business. Folsom uses seven chapters on separate industries ran by robber barons to show, at least from an overall economic view, The United States experienced a gross net benefit by the existence of robber barons.

Robber baron is a businessman who is rich and is very cruel to workers. They were said to be overcharging when they had a monopoly. A captain of industry is a businessman who gets money for a country to help out. Captain of industry are people of benefits society in a positive way. You have two different people in the business industry.

Reed Karaim in “Gold Grab” analyzes the relationship between robber barons Jay Gould and Jim Fisk. They were partners in crime. In 1869, they were working on a plan to rob the U.S. gold market. This article focuses on how Gould and Fisk use their connections with inside people including President Grant, to change gold prices. This led to the economy collapsing on September 24th, 1869, this day is famously known as Black Friday.

The Myth of Robber Barons discusses some of the major entrepreneurs in of the United States from 1850 to 1910. Burton Folsom also discusses these entrepreneur’s key role in their fields and the whole economy of the United States. The entrepreneurs discussed are Commodore Vanderbilt, James J. Hill, The Scranton’s Group, Charles Schwab, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Mellon. We know these men as “Robber Barons,” but Folsom argues that these entrepreneurs succeeded by producing quality product and service at a competitive price. He compares so called “Robber Barons” to the political entrepreneurs who rely heavily on government subsidy and make no improvement.

From 1865 to 1900, a surge in industry and business began to come into effect. Railroads, oil, steel, and various inventions enabled the rise of these businesses. As time went on, the leaders of the businesses would become more eager to achieve wealth. Some historians have described these people as ‘robber barons’ or people who use extreme methods to control and maintain their wealth and power. Others would chastise that belief, declaring that it is an unjust conclusion to draw. Despite the oppositions fervent belief, the undeniable evidence supports the belief that many of the businessmen in the late 19th century were ‘robber barons’. These men had a blatant disregard for human lives and an unquenchable urge to assume control over citizens’ lives that instilled corruption and greed in them.

A "robber baron" was someone who employed any means necessary to enrich themselves at the expense of their competitors. Did John D. Rockefeller fall into that category or was he one of the "captains of industry", whose shrewd and innovative leadership brought order out of industrial chaos and generated great fortunes that enriched the public welfare through the workings of various philanthropic agencies that these leaders established? In the early 1860s Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, who came to epitomize both the success and excess of corporate capitalism. His company was based in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Rockefeller. A picture in my history book shows a group of people watching an old Rockefeller crouch over to accept a flower from a little girl. The caption reads "John D. Rockefeller, American industrialist and philanthropist, is caught doing one of his good deeds."

Robber Barons In the new industrial age, people such as Andrew Carnegie and JD Rockefeller played a key role industrializing America. They paved the way for future industry with their creativity and ambition (Document C-2, historian B, 1953). The United States would not be as technologically advanced if these poeple didnt come up with the stratigies that they did. Carnegie was thought to be the industrail hero of the time, while Rockefeller was thought to be the Oil hero.

Industrialism started in 1800s and it was managed by the Industrialists. These industrialists were wealthy business owners and they owned big corporations. They were famous men like Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Ford etc. which to some people are robber barons but to others are captains of industry. These men provided positives and negatives to the US economy in 1900s. These individuals did hard work to drive the US in 1900s but on the other hand, they provided harsh working conditions to their laborers. The economy in the 1900s wasn’t stable but these men provided a back to America and they should be considered as the captains of the industry,

The decades after the Civil War rapidly changed the face of the United States. The rapid industrialization of the nation changed us from generally agrarian to the top industrial power in the world. Business tycoons thrived during this time, forging great business empires with the use of trusts and pools. Farmers moved to the cities and into the factories, living off wages and changing the face of the workforce. This rapid industrialization created wide gaps in society, and the government, which had originally taken a hands off approach to business, was forced to step in.

The Scranton story demonstrated the importance of the entrepreneurial spirit in business as the Scranton family combined this spirit with talent and a vision before in order to create the first iron rail company in the United States. The family’s journey to success was not easy nor did all of the Scrantons die wealthy, but they never gave up on their dreams. Seeing an opportunity to be the first Americans the rail-making market the Scrantons sought those who might invest in their dream however many turned them away. Some investors didn’t believe that the Scrantons would be successful in the iron industry because of early quality problems and lost capital nonetheless with the support from a few New York investors and family friends the Scrantons gained enough money to begin their endeavor (Folsom Jr., p. 43). In 1839, William Henry set out to find land which held the proper resources necessary to make iron rails and settled on land called the Lackawanna Valley, which was appropriate only by appearance which led to a great deal of doubt by potential investors (Folsom Jr., pp. 42-43). Luckily Henry’s son-in-law, Seldon Scranton, thought the area was promising and collectively with family and close friends he raised the $20,000 needed to dig the ore and build a furnace (Folsom Jr., p. 43). The group of men who raised the money to invest in Henry was collectively called the Scranton Group. Two years later, the group began making iron and found that they had chosen a bad location

Jay Gatsby started his life living in North Dakota with his impoverished family. Jay Gatsby wanted to become rich one day to prove to himself his mission in life. Gatsby became rich very quickly after he met Dan Cody, a wealthy copper mogul. A few years later, Gatsby is one of the wealthiest men in New York City. Gatsby desperately wants people to believe that he is the real deal and did not participate in any illegal wrongdoings. However, many people who attend Gatsby’s parties speculate who Gatsby’s past. "Oh, no," said the first girl, "it couldn't be that because he was in the American army during the war." As our credulity switched back to her she leaned forward with enthusiasm. "You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody's looking at him. I'll bet he killed a man” (Fitzgerald 35). With all the speculation, no one knew who Gatsby truly was. Gatsby met with Meyer Wolfsheim, who was an expert in many illegal activities such as fixing the 1919 World Series. These wrongdoings also include bootlegging since this is during the prohibition. The reader cannot know completely, however, it can be assumed that Gatsby is selling his alcohol through drug stores throughout the country. This would work by having a doctor at the drugstore prescribe alcohol to a patient for medical reasons. Eventually, people such as Tom Buchanan would uncover this secret. "I found out what your 'drug-stores' were." He turned to us and spoke rapidly. "He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That's one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong” (Fitzgerald 119). It can also be assumed that Gatsby was involved in an illegal bond business. Gatsby would have people change the amount of a bond and return the bonds back to the bank. This could not be done

James Crawford and David Smith, two lifelong friends, had been through a time of prosperity during the Roaring Twenties. James, who was distinctly older than Bruce, had hair the color of sand and eyes of frozen, clean ice. David, with his trademark unkempt hair and stubble beard, had a tragic past. He had lost his house in a fire, and turned to the markets to get back his life, which left a burning scar in his life. For over three years, David had lived with James. He enjoyed spending more time with his friend whom he has known since the third grade. David thought he would get his life back. With over $50,000 invested, David could not have lost his money at a worse time. As soon as he thought his like would peak, an avalanche buried his chances.

Received an A- on this paper, United States History, DePaul University, put almost twenty hours into, most I write in four-five hours, very proud of this piece.

Soon after the first transcontinental railroads were federally subsidized and created in the 1860s, concerns arose over cases of predatory practices being carried out by certain rail companies. This was made possible in part by the monopolization taking place within the industry. Jay Gould, a wealthy man at the time who was a leading developer and speculator of railroads, possessed much control over rail activity. Such control created challenges for local economies of particular cities like St. Louis. For example, in 1881, Gould controlled Eads Bridge, the main bridge crossing the Mississippi River from Illinois into the city of St. Louis. Gould charged high tariffs which caused rail companies to re-reroute up through Chicago, ultimately