Rockefeller and Vanderbilt: Titans of Industry

Posted on Jan 9, 2025 in Social sciences

America Wasn’t Discovered, It Was Built

Introduction

Just 50 years after the Civil War, the United States became the greatest superpower the world had ever seen.

  • This landmark transition was due in no small part to a group of innovative businessmen: John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt.
  • These men constructed a bold vision for a modern America and transformed the greatest industries of our time; they are unequivocally America’s first captains of industry.
  • While they made unprecedented advancements that greatly helped the public, they also caused many problems that proved to be quite detrimental. While the Industrialists of the late 19th Century were indeed Captains of Industry, they were only able to reach that level by using the power they obtained as Robber Barons.

The Rise of the Robber Barons

  1. First, the dramatic difference in the economy between 1800 and 1860 resulted from industrialization.
  • Some feel that the powerful industrialists of the Gilded Age should be referred to as “robber barons.” This portrays men like Vanderbilt and Rockefeller as cruel and ruthless businessmen who would stop at nothing to achieve great wealth. These “robber barons” were accused of exploiting workers and forcing horrible working conditions and unfair labor practices upon them.
  • According to A Rush to the Top by J. F. Wickens, Ida Tarbell, a muckraking journalist, described how Rockefeller conspired to force railroads to grant them “drawbacks” — additional rebates on the shipments of their competitors. Rockefeller can be called a robber baron simply because he used his power to destroy other businesses. Rockefeller wanted his company to have as much of the market as possible. To achieve this, he pushed his company hard to reduce its costs. This involved tactics like pushing railroads to give him the lowest possible rates and ruthlessly searching for any way to improve the efficiency of his operation. Once he had accomplished his goal of reducing costs, he was able to outcompete the other companies and drive them out of business. As his company got bigger and bigger, he became more and more able to use its power to crush his competitors. For this reason, he deserves the name “robber baron.”
Second, H. A. W. Tabor, for example, built an opera house for Denver. When he saw a portrait of Shakespeare in the lobby, Tabor forced the establishment to exchange the picture for his own. He protested, “What the hell has Shakespeare done for Denver?”. Other tycoons used their power to their own ends. Another example: Cornelius Vanderbilt was angered over criticism of his practices, he moaned: “Law? What do I care about the law? Hain’t I got the power?”. Initially, other industrialists called them “robber barons”. Third, Cornelius Vanderbilt was a self-made multi-millionaire who became one of the wealthiest Americans of the 19th century. As a boy, he worked with his father, who operated a boat that ferried cargo between Staten Island, New York, where they lived, and Manhattan.
  • After working as a steamship captain, Vanderbilt went into business for himself in the late 1820s, and eventually became one of the country’s largest steamship operators. In the process, the Commodore, as he was publicly nicknamed, gained a reputation for being fiercely competitive and ruthless. In the 1860s, he shifted his focus to the railroad industry, where he built another empire and helped make railroad transportation more efficient. Therefore, this makes Cornelius Vanderbilt one of the “captains of industry”.

Conclusion

  • The term “captain of industry” views these men as ingenious and industrious leaders who transformed the American economy with their business skills. They were praised for their skills as well as for their philanthropy.
  • I personally believe that the captains were extraordinary industrialists with practices that changed the U.S.’s economy forever. Even though they used some debatable methods, in the end, they were great businessmen and praised icons in trade and industry and built the United States economy.