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Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?. Introduction. Introduction.
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Introduction Introduction • Though a century has passed since the heyday of the great industrialists and financiers, debate continues: were these men captains of industry, without whom this country could not have taken its place as a great industrial power, or were they robber barons, limiting healthy competition and robbing from the poor to benefit the rich? Where do we draw the line between unfair business practices and competition that leads to innovation, investment, and improvement in the standard of living for everyone? Would the industrial economy have succeeded without entrepreneurs willing to take competition to its extremes? • It has been argued that we are now in a similar economic period, the formative years of the Information Age. Certainly we continue to struggle with similar kinds of questions about fair and unfair business practices and the benefits and costs of competition. Does the industrialization of America at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century hold any lessons for us today? Can market forces exert sufficient influence to rein in potentially harmful practices or does government have to intervene? Should the government intervene? Task Resources
Task Introduction • Create a Power Point About one of the Industrialist • “robber barons" or "captains of industry"? • In order to prepare, your task is to read and highlight the information handed out in class and visit the various websites listed for one industrialist . Your goal is to dive in a little deeper with the content and start to make judgments about the specific industrialist. • How did they make so much money? • Did they break any laws to become rich? • Were their business practices always ethical? • How did they treat their workers? • What was the overall impact of their business success? • Did they help in any philanthropic ventures? Task Resources
Resources Introduction Carnegie Document • Use these Web Sites for your Research: • Andrew Carnegie • Biography of Andrew Carnegie (PBS) • J. Pierpoint Morgan • JP Morgan (PBS) • Biography of J.P. Morgan • Cornelius Vanderbilt • Cornelius Vanderbilt • John D. Rockerfeller • John D. Rockerfeller (PBS) Task Resources Morgan Document Vanderbilt Document Rockerfeller Document
Websites • Carnegie • Carnegie notes (if you want to type) • Morgan • Morgan notes (if you want to type) • Rockefeller • Rockefeller notes (if you want to type) • Vanderbilt • Vanderbilt notes (if you want to type)
Industrialist Your Name
