Were the captains of industry even good?

In class, we have been studying the time after the civil war, starting in about 1865 and going through the 20th century. During this time, industry in America was undergoing constant growth. This growth was seen especially in steel production, railroad expansion, and oil companies. Shortly after the civil war, John D. Rockefeller established a small oil company. Over time, this company grew, eventually leading Rockefeller to be one of the wealthiest people of the time. He donated significant amounts of his money back to the public, and yet his workers remained under paid, and were often on strike out of protest. Another example, this time in the steel industry, was Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie believed there were two phases of wealth: Acquiring wealth, then giving back to the community. However, like before, his workers were often on strike. So despite being leaders in growing industry, were these people really all that great?

John D Rockefeller was born into a poor family. He is someone to think about when you think about the 'rags to riches' story. The public had a very poor opinion of him because of the reaches of his company. It was generally thought, and usually true. Below is a political cartoon which depicts Standard Oill, Rockefeller's company, as a monster controlling many government buildings. This help shows the relations Rockefeller had with the public, as most people thought the company controlled parts of the government. So despite donating much of his wealth to charity, the public still did not trust Rockefeller. 

Andrew Carnegie was the owner of the largest steel company of the time. While his relations with te public were better than Rockefeller's, his was still not great. Carnegie, as stated, believed that there were two parts of one's life: acquiring wealth, and then giving it back to the community. For the most part, he did this. And yet, his workes were mostly paid just enough to keep them alive. Below is also a political cartoon, this time depicting Carnegie. It shows Carnegie donating much of his wealth to the public, and yet cutting the wages of his workers. So while he was giving his wealth back to the community, he does not give it tp the people who helped hom get it. Because of this, workers were often on strike, leading to events such as the homestead strike.

The captains of industry were not all bad. If it wasn't for them, then industry would not have grown nearly as much, and there would have less jobs. The only problem was that most of these jobs were bad, and pay was awful. If proper pay was offered, then these jobs would have been much better for everyone involved.

Information from sources given in class.