John D. Rockefeller: A Robber Baron Or the Efficient Businessman
John Davison Rockefeller has been accused by many as being a Robber Baron over the past century. He created the most powerful corporation the United States had ever seen: The Standard Oil Company. He began Standard Oil in 1865 and by 1881, it was comprised of more than forty other companies. In 1882 Rockefeller created the Standard Oil Trusts, and his company had become the most efficient corporation, producing the highest quality products as well as charging the lowest prices. Unlike Jay Gould, who used the judicial system to acquire companies, make a profit, and then leave that company in bankruptcy, Rockefeller was philanthropic in his endeavors, incorporating his acquired companies into the ever enlarging Standard Oil. He believed in Social Darwinism and the "Gospel of Wealth," and as a result the Standard Oil Company helped to strengthen the American economy, created jobs, and was one of the leaders in making the United States the industrial giant that it is today. John D. Rockefeller was not a Robber Baron because he did nothing wrong, he was a product of the Industrial era, and played by its rules to attain the greatest victory, absolute econo
When he began the Standard Oil Company, it was not with the intention of monopolizing the industry; he wanted to create order and stability in the volatile petroleum market, and the economy. " Men like Rockefeller were "pioneering innovators" that made positive and " often valuable contributions to national economic development. In defending Rockefeller against being a Robber Baron, all one must do is look at his contributions to society. " Rockefeller was not a Robber Baron, and unlike Gould he helped the nation through his philanthropy and creation of the Rockefeller Foundation to which he gave more than 550 million dollars. Rockefeller realized that the nation was changing and that the American frontier had long since disappeared, thus the rugged American individualism was no longer the way to success; organization was the key to success. " The Constitution had no laws making the industrial giants, private citizens, the caretakers of the problems of the government, or forcing them to do everything morally and rightly instead of with ruthless determination. The population of the United States tripled due to the many immigrants flocking to America for jobs, and with the use of better, more efficient technologies, which increased farm outputs. The vast amounts of cash poured into his many companies to create a technological advantage spurred many inventors to come up with items that would increase production or efficiency. Never before had the coupling of industry, natural and physical sciences been attempted, but in America, it was attempted, implemented, and perfected to such a degree as to create a nation that surpassed all others. Rockefeller did the same thing to the oil industry, by gaining support or control of the rivaling factions and bringing them together under his watchful eye. Much like the famous people of today, or the politicians, people will rarely look for the good in the person, they root out the bad things, and magnify them. Thus, he sought better profits; the workers sought higher wages, he sought organization to fight off his competition; the workers formed in Unions to organize their fight against the employers. Rockefeller's efforts brought "more goods of better quality at lower prices, cheaper and more efficient transportation, new markets, a dazzling variety of products, more jobs, and higher wages.
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