Two Great Men

In honors History 10 class this week we learned about Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. To learn about these two men we watched videos as a class and in groups we read and analyzed documents. Each group had one topic to focus on, the topics were main ideas,key people, important events, and essential terms. With all of this information about Carnegie and Rockefeller as a class we came up with an essential question. The essential question is, Should Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller be classified as a robber barons or captains of industry?

(Andrew Carnegie)

A robber baron is defined as someone who exploited workers and forced horrible working conditions and unfair labor practices upon the laborer. Captain's of industry were defined as leaders that were praised for all the great things they did and were skilled workers. I think the Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller should be classified as captains of industry. Carnegie should be classified as a captain of industry because he cared about the people. He showed he wanted to do something good for the people by spending an excess amount of money on public needs and education. He also believed in rewarding workers for what they do and recognized them for their hard work and talent. I'm the document it states "He believed in rewarding talent and frequently promoted exceptional workers into the ranks of management." John D. Rockefeller is also considered a captain of industry. He is defined as a captain of industry because he gave all of his earnings back to the community. In the document we analyized about him in class it states "He gave money to Spelman College in Georgia to educate African-American women and founded the University of Chicago (ultimately giving it $80 million)." This shows that Rockefeller was not greedy and wanted to really help the community when needed. 

(John D Rockefeller) 

These two men have their flaws, but for the most part they were captains of industry. Someone in our world today that would be considered a captain of industry would be whoever came up with the company "Toms". The guy who came up with the idea of "Toms" would be considered a captain of industry because he produces shoes but every pair of shoes purchased proceeds go towards less fortunate kids in Africa. Rockefeller and Carnegie are two amazing men that should be considered captains of industry because they helped the community the best they could. 

 

 "John D. Rockefeller | Biography - American Industrialist." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 1884. Accessed June 5, 2015. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/506239/John-D-Rockefeller.

  "Carnegie Library of Davidson College." Carnegie Library of Davidson College. Accessed June 5, 2015.