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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Innovator or Thief?

Robber Barons, a term used in the late 1800s and early 1900s to describe a businessman who made an enormous amount of money, today we would call them billionaires. It was not really the fact they made an extreme amount of wealth, it was more the way they made it. In all the cases the acquiring of wealth was done in what was considered a ruthless manor and unscrupulous ways. A robber baron was more interested in acquiring wealth than the safety of his employees, the amount of work hours performed in a week, or the amount of wage being paid for a days work.
For example Andrew Carnegie(the robber baron of the steel industry), he was instrumental in starting the 72 hour work week, paying out less than fair wages and having dangerous working conditions.
The robber barons were known for their business tactics that would enable them to amass a wealth by monopolies. They would corner the market on a product or service and make it almost impossible to get, accept through them. To what extent was it justified to characterize the industrial leaders of the late 19th century as either "robber barons" or "captains of industry?"
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6 comments:

  1. Michael RandolphNovember 3, 2011 at 2:41 PM

    I think being a robber baron was bad in the old days, but they probably thought it was okay because they wanted to make a lot of money. Also, they chose to stay and work long days, and get payed less. I think that's messed up, people/bosses where taking advantage of their power.

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  2. Amber A.November 3, 2011 at 5:27 PM

    I think it was justified. They made it so that their workers lives were dependent on the owner of the business. Prices were often unfair and pay was far to low to be even considered reasonable.

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  3. John MartinezNovember 4, 2011 at 1:52 PM

    They tried to be more powerful and stronger than the government. They really didnt care for their workers.They robbed people of their money and jeperdized their lives. John martinez per4

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  4. Sterlin GreenNovember 9, 2011 at 1:34 PM

    The fact that he care more about make in money then his employees is not nice.

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  5. Mariela HolguinNovember 11, 2011 at 3:14 PM

    The character of "robber barons" was justified as a industrial leader because they did not care of the working condition or the danger they were putting their workers to be able to accomplish their one goal in becoming a billionaire and being successfully wealthy. Increasing their consumer rate by minimizing certain products, so that consumers can only purchase threw them.

    Mariela Holguin
    P.4

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  6. AnonymousNovember 26, 2011 at 6:51 PM

    Calling the rich business owners "robber barons" is justified because they robbed workers of their time, health, money, and lives. An example of ruthless robber barons are the men that ran the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York. The women worked laboriously without bathroom breaks, often suffering from bladder infections and there were no safety regulations in the case of a fire. In 1911, hundreds of women and men lost their lives because of the cheap, greedy, careless men running the factory.
    -Julia Beaty

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