preview

Was Rockefeller A Robber Baron Or A Captain Of Industry

Decent Essays

John D. Rockefeller: Robber Baron or Captain of Industry? John D. Rockefeller could be thought of as both a robber baron and a captain of industry because he did many things throughout his career that would make you believe this. In my opinion, Rockefeller was more of a captain of industry because he did a lot of philanthropic work after his retirement from the oil business. Although, he did use illegal and very unethical tactics in order to gain his wealth, and he completely ran his competitors out of business. He would do anything to gain more fortune for himself. When people think of John D. Rockefeller, only one question comes to mind. Was he a robber baron or a captain of industry? In a quote from Searching History it says Rockefeller “Utilized predatory tactics to crush …show more content…

Rockefeller was a captain of industry because, unlike a robber baron who is ruthless in their business practices, he was extremely generous when it came to money. He gave half a billion dollars, which is more than ⅓ of his total net worth, to multiple different charities. Rockefeller did create an oil monopoly, which is when a single company or group owns most of a market for a certain product they are trying to sell, or a company that completely dominates a particular industry. There are some advantages to creating a monopoly, like the avoidance of duplicated products being sold. They are also able to avoid competition and be more efficient with the products they are selling because they can afford to have the latest machinery and technology to help them. There are also some disadvantages. Consumers can be charged higher prices for lower quality goods, and the lack of competition could also lead to lower quality goods. Some would say that this is very greedy because monopolies are usually associated with robber barons, but I think Rockefeller was an exception to this. As a captain of industry, Rockefeller was in no way greedy with the money he made from his oil

Get Access