The Gilded Age Tycoons: Captains of Industry or Robber Barons?

Target: I can evaluate whether industrial tycoons were beneficial "Captains of Industry" or harmful "Robber Barons" by analyzing primary sources.

Key Vocabulary

• Monopoly: Complete control of a product or service by one person or group (no competition).

• Philanthropy: The act of donating money to help others (like building libraries or hospitals).

• Laissez-Faire: The belief that the government should not interfere with or regulate business.

• Vertical Integration: Owning every step of the manufacturing process (e.g., the mines, the railroad, and the factory).

Part 1: Do Now (5 minutes)

Directions: Read the prompt below and write a 5-8 sentence response.

Prompt: The Billionaire Dilemma. Imagine a business owner creates a new product that everyone loves (like a cheaper, better phone). He becomes a billionaire. However, to make the phone cheap, he pays his workers very low wages and buys out all the other phone companies so no one else can compete. He then donates half his money to build libraries and hospitals.

In a complete paragraph, answer: Is this person a hero for creating jobs and donating money, or a villain for underpaying workers and destroying competition? Can you be both?

Sentence Starter: I believe this business owner is a (hero/villain/both) because... Even though he donated money, he also... However, by creating a product everyone loves, he...

Part 2: Analyzing the Sources

Directions: Analyze the two documents below and then answer the questions that follow.

Source 1: Andrew Carnegie, "The Gospel of Wealth" (Adapted Excerpt, 1889)

Original Text	Simplified Text
"The price which society pays for the law of competition... is also great; but the advantages of this law are also greater still... It is here; we cannot evade it..."	"Competition creates inequality, which is a high price to pay. But the benefits of competition are worth it. We cannot avoid this; it is a natural law."
"The man of wealth thus becoming the mere agent and trustee for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves."	"A wealthy man should act as a guardian for his poorer brothers. He should use his superior intelligence and experience to spend his money on things that help the poor better than they could help themselves."

Source 2: Ida Tarbell, "The History of the Standard Oil Company" (Adapted Excerpt, 1904)

Original Text	Simplified Text
"Mr. Rockefeller has systematically played with loaded dice, and it is doubtful if there has been a time since 1872 when he has run a race with a competitor and started fair. Business played in this way loses all its sportsmanlike qualities. It is fit only for tricksters..."	"Mr. Rockefeller cheats. It's like he is playing a game with 'loaded dice' (rigged dice). He has never raced a competitor fairly. Business like this isn't fair; it is for liars and tricksters."
"The Standard Oil Company... has done everything possible to ruin the business of its competitors... It has used force and fraud to get control of the oil business."	"His company, Standard Oil, has done everything it can to destroy its competition. He used violence (force) and lies (fraud) to take total control of the oil industry."

Analysis Questions

Directions: Answer questions A and B on your own. Then, work with a partner for the "Verdict."

Question A (Carnegie): According to Source 1, why does Carnegie believe that extreme inequality (some people being very rich and others poor) is actually good for society? (Hint: Look for what he says about "superior wisdom").

Sentence Starter: Carnegie believes inequality is good because wealthy men have... He claims that rich men can use their money to...

Question B (Tarbell): According to Source 2, what specific "unfair" methods did Rockefeller use to beat his competitors? Why does Tarbell compare his business to "loaded dice"?

Sentence Starter: Tarbell argues that Rockefeller used... She compares his business to "loaded dice" because...

The Verdict (Work with your partner): Based only on these two documents, does the benefit of Carnegie's charity outweigh the cost of Rockefeller's "force and fraud"? Write a joint verdict below.

Verdict: We find the Tycoons to be (Captains of Industry / Robber Barons) because...

Part 3: Exit Ticket (5 minutes)

Directions: Answer the following prompt in a complete paragraph (5-8 sentences).

Prompt: The Gilded Age was a time of "glitter on the surface, but rot underneath." In a detailed paragraph, explain how the careers of men like Carnegie and Rockefeller fit this description. Use evidence from the lesson to explain how they could be seen as "glittering" (successful/generous) and "rotten" (ruthless/unfair) at the same time.

Sentence Starter: The careers of Carnegie and Rockefeller show that the Gilded Age was "glittering" because... However, it was also "rotten" underneath because... For example, Source 2 shows that Rockefeller... while Source 1 shows that Carnegie believed...

Regents Practice

Topic: Standard Oil & Industrialization

Passage:

“. . . Even as it was menaced by new competitors abroad, Standard Oil seemed omnipotent [all-powerful] in American oil. Everything about its operation was colossal: Twenty thousand wells poured their output into 4,000 miles of Standard Oil pipelines, carrying the crude to seaboard or to 5,000 Standard Oil tank cars. The combine now employed 100,000 people and superintended the export of 50,000 barrels of oil to Europe daily. Rockefeller’s creation could be discussed only in superlatives: It was the biggest and richest, the most feared and admired business organization in the world. Earning steady, reliable profits, year in and year out, Rockefeller could be forgiven for believing he had outwitted the business cycle. For a man who craved order, he had reached his apogee [summit]. No longer at the mercy of unpredictable economic forces, he thrived even in recessions. . . .”Source: Ron Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., Vintage Books, 1998

Historians could best use this passage to study

(1) the transportation revolution in the early 19th century

(2) industrialization during the late 19th century

(3) jobs creation under the New Deal

(4) the impact of the Quota Acts

Which writer became famous for exposing the questionable business tactics of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company?

(1) Upton Sinclair

(2) Jacob Riis

(3) Ida Tarbell

(4) Margaret Sanger