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Big Business. Robber Baron or Philanthropists John D. Rockefeller Andrew Carnegie. Robber Baron. Businessmen who were viewed as having used questionable practices to amass their wealth.
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Big Business Robber Baron or Philanthropists John D. Rockefeller Andrew Carnegie
Robber Baron • Businessmen who were viewed as having used questionable practices to amass their wealth. • Combines the sense of criminal ("robber") and illegitimate aristocracy ("baron").
Philanthropists • The effort or inclination to increase the well-being of humankind, as by charitable aid or donations.
Corporation • New technology caused business and factory owners to expand. To do this they needed money for equipment. • Business owned by investors who buy part of the company through stocks.
Monopoly * One company that wipes out its competition and controls the industry.
Trust • Consolidate holdings (stocks) in a number of companies with national and international reach. • A legal body of men (organization) who banned together to control a certain industry.
John D. Rockefeller 1839 - 1937 • Born into a poor family in Upstate New York • Drops out of high school. He enters a professional school, where he studies double-entry bookkeeping, penmanship, banking, and commercial law. • At 16 he begins working for Hewitt & Tuttle, commission merchants and produce shippers. • At 24, Rockefeller gets involved in the oil business, along with partners Maurice Clark and Samuel Andrews. Andrews, Clark & Co. builds a refinery in The “Flats” near Cleveland. • At 25, he buys out his partners and founds Standard Oil. • At 40, Rockefeller is numbered among the country's twenty richest men.
Andrew Carnegie 1835 - 1919 • Born in Scotland • At age 12, his family moved to U.S. • He began working in a cotton mill (factory) at 13, earning $1.20 a week. • At age 16, he began working as a telegraph operator and two years later he began working for the Pennsylvania Railroad . • He left the railroad in 1865 to focus on his other business interests, including the Keystone Bridge Company. • By the mid 1870s, Carnegie constructed his first steel mill. • Carnegie would use a new steel refining process developed by Henry Bessemer to convert huge amounts of iron into steel. • Within a few years, Carnegie Steel dominated both the U.S. and World markets.
Rockefeller Philanthropy • His fortune was mainly used to create foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education, and scientific research. • Founder of Chicago University • Founder of Rockefeller University • Gave generously to the Baptist Church • Gave generously to the YMCA • Estimated to have given $500 million away.
Carnegie Philanthropy • Author: “Gospel of Wealth” - Wealthy people were morally obligated to give their money back to others in society. • Founded the Carnegie Institution to fund scientific research. • He gave money to towns and cities to build more than 2,000 public libraries throughout the country. • Estimated to have given $350 million away.