1. Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?

2. Basic Economics of 19th Century
- economic system where businesses are operated by private owners
Laissez-Faire?
Protective Tariff – protect US businesses
Mass production – use machines to quickly make goods
Corporation – group ownership – invest in a company (shares/stocks)
- complete ownership of a company

3. Protective Tariff

4. Monopoly

5. Trusts
Vertical Integration – control every step of the manufacturing process
Brainstorm – automobile
Carnegie – steel
Horizontal Integration – ally with competitors to control an entire market
Brainstorm – Nike
Rockefeller – Oil
Trust – group of companies controlled by a single board

7. Cornelius Vanderbilt
Railroads
$185 billion (today’s money)

8. JP Morgan Banker US Steel General Electric AT&T
$41.5 Billion (today’s $)

9. John D Rockefeller Oil (kerosene, gasoline) Standard Oil Company
$340 billion (today’s)

10. Thomas Alva Edison Edison Electric (now GE) Light bulb/ DC
$170 million (today’s $)

11. Andrew Carnegie Steel Carnegie Steel Co.
Bessemer Process – cheap steel
“Gospel of Wealth”
$310 billion (today)

12. Good or Bad? Captains of Industry Robber Barons Philanthropists Jobs
Grand Central Station
Rockefeller Center
Carnegie-Mellon University
Vanderbilt University
Carnegie Libraries
University of Chicago
Jobs
Cheaper products
Bailed gov’t out
Long hours, small wages
Monopolists
Child labor
Destroyed small businesses
Unfair business practices