Over the week we have been working as a class to learn about John D Rockefeller's and Andrew Carnegie's impact on big industries. We watched an ABC Clio video about the two people and the industries they ran. We also went through primary and secondary sources to learn about their industries and how it affected the public. Our essential question is were the captains of industry a positive or a negative impact to the public? I believe that the captains of industry had a positive impact on the public.
John D Rockefeller made a lot of money through his company Standard Oil. Many believe his goal was to be the richest man in the world. Standard Oil was a very successful company by keeping their prices so low that other companies could not compete with him. Another strategy Rockefeller had was to buy out his rival companies as well. Many think that when we went about this he did not always go about it well and used cutthroat tactics to get them to give in. This tactics did allow John D Rockefeller to be a very wealthy man in the end. He believed that it was his right to make money so he could give back money to the people. Rockefeller gave away a total of 500 million dollars to charities and the public. He believed in the education of people so he donated a lot of money to schools. He also helped eradicate yellow fever by donating to charity groups. Over all his impact was a good one. He kept oil costs low, gave to education, and gave to charity.
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| John D Rockefeller portrait. From Edline John D Rockefeller biography. |
Andrew Carnegie worked in the steel industry but before that he had small jobs. He worked in factories and was able to take telegraphs by sound. Later Carnegie traveled all over Europe and studied techniques in big businesses. He teamed up with Bessemer to create a very successful steel business. Carnegie's company was able to produce high quality steel at a low price. This allowed for people to use steel as much as they needed. They could create railroads and other important things. Carnegie ended up giving over his company to J.P. Morgan. In the end Carnegie had created several schools and gave to charities as well.
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| Andrew Carnegie portrait. From Edline Andrew Carnegie biography. |
Julianna O
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