Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?
I. Andrew Carnegie
http://www.ushistory.org/us/36c.asp
II. John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller, "King of the World," Puck Magazine, 1901.
III. The Bosses of the Senate
a cartoon by Joseph Keppler. First published in Puck 1889.
IV. Hopelessly Bound to the Stake
Published by Keppler & Schwarzmann, 1883 August 15. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2012645504/
This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: First, to set an example of modest,…living, shunning display or extravagance; … and, after doing so, to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds,… to produce the most beneficial results for the community—the man of wealth thus becoming…. [an] agent 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."
—From "Wealth," by Andrew Carnegie, North American Review (1889)
http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/industrial-age-america-robber-barons-and-captains-industry
Carnegie had made some charitable donations before 1901, but after that time, giving his money away became his new occupation. In 1902 he founded the Carnegie Institution to fund scientific research and established a pension fund for teachers with a $10 million donation. http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/carnegie/aa_carnegie_phil_1.html
The site for Edison s first U.S. central generating station had to satisfy both engineering and business needs. To promote the system, a high profile location was called for. Edison chose a site in the heart of New York s financial district…. On September 4, 1882, he threw a switch in the office of one of his main investors, J. Pierpont Morgan, and initiated service to the area.
A major factor in Edison’ s success lay in his ability to attract large amounts of money to fund research and development. Financing for Edison’ s initial light bulb experiments had mainly come from telegraph businessmen who knew him and had faith in his abilities. In 1878, they and the banking house of Drexel-Morgan [J. P. Morgan] paid $50,000 for 1/6 share in the Edison Electric Light Co. Edison held the other 5/6 share.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/lighting/scripts/s19c.htm
Cleveland, September 16, 1890
Mr. Rockefeller
Would you like to buy a farm on the lakeshore? I have a farm of about 70 acres. …It is a valuable piece of property and I would not part with it if it was possible to keep it. …I have been obliged to get quite a heavy mortgage on it. My health is very poor so my expenses are greater.
Hearing of your kindness to others I thought I would write and ask you if you would buy my place.
Please let me know and oblige.
Mrs. G. P. Gunn
[From the Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, NY]
HISD Social Studies Curriculum 2015 U.S. History Since 1877