1. What is a “baron”?

2. What was a “robber baron”?
Robber barons were feudal lords in the Middle Ages who owned land along the Rhine River in Europe

3. What was a “robber baron”?
They abused their power by stopping merchant ships and demanding tolls

4. “Robber Barons”
The term was revived in the late 1800s to describe the industrialists who dominated their industries and amassed fortunes by using unfair business practices.

5. “The oil industry belongs to us.”
-John D. Rockefeller (1876)
John D. Rockefeller
Business Practices
Formed Standard Oil of Ohio in 1870
Consolidated the oil industry by forcing railroads to give it rebates
Forced railroads to raise rates for rival refiners
Cut prices, forcing competitors out of business
During 1873 depression, bought bankrupt companies
Used “vertical integration” until he owned ships, docks, barrel companies, and even pipelines that carried the oil
Result: Monopoly. Standard Oil controlled all steps of the production of oil, from refining to delivery.

6. A new Business Practice
“The oil industry belongs to us.”
-John D. Rockefeller (1876)
“trust” = monopoly
A new Business Practice
in the late 19C
Purpose was to minimize competition and create a “monopoly”
Corporate leaders (like Rockefeller) convinced (or forced) shareholders of all the companies in one industry to give their shares to a board of trustees in exchange for certificates, which would pay them dividends
The board would then manage all the companies in “trust”
Result: Gave people like Rockefeller complete control over an industry (since he appointed the board)

7. philanthropy, philanthropist
Phil = love
anthrop = humanity
Literally means “love of humanity”
Concern for human welfare and advancement, usually through donations of money, property, or work to needy persons.

8. John D. Rockefeller Pro Con
Business combinations were essential to transform the chaotic business markets of the 1860s and 1870s .
He was a bold innovator, the first to bring a unifying idea to industry
He was a philanthropist—he used his money to make society better
Monopoly destroys competition, which is the basis of our market economy
Monopoly is inhumane—it forces competitors into bankruptcy and ruin
His wealth made him too powerful; no one should be that powerful in a “democratic” country

9. Captain of Industry or Robber Baron?
John D. Rockefeller
Rockefeller Center, NYC

10. Captain of Industry or Robber Baron?
Andrew Carnegie
Carnegie Hall, NYC