Discuss the relationship between the robber barons and the progressive movement
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"Robber baron" is term used to describe America’s most successful industrialists. This derogative term was primarily used during the era of the late 19th century often known as the Gilded Age. The term robber baron is also sometimes used to describe any successful businessperson whose practices are considered unethical or unscrupulous. This behavior can include employee or environmental abuse, stock market manipulation, or deliberately restricting output to charge higher prices. Show
Key Takeaways
Understanding Robber BaronsThe first known uses of the phrase “robber baron” described feudal lords in medieval Europe who robbed travelers, often merchant ships along the Rhine River as they passed nearby. The term appeared in American newspapers in 1859. Its modern use stems from Matthew Josephson’s The Robber Barons. Robber barons were widely despised and considered rapacious monopolists during their lifetimes. However, later biographies and historical reviews about the Gilded Age’s American robber barons cast a more complicated and favorable light. Robber Barons and MonopoliesA chief complaint against the 19th-century capitalists was that they were monopolists. Fear over the robber barons and their monopoly practices increased public support for the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. Economic theory says a monopolist earns premium profits by restricting output and raising prices. This only occurs after the monopolist prices out or legally restricts any competitor firms in the industry. However, there is no historical evidence that natural monopolies formed before the Sherman Antitrust Act. Many so-called robber barons—James J. Hill, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller—became wealthy entrepreneurs through product innovation and business efficiency. Of the goods and services they provided, supply grew, and prices fell rapidly, greatly boosting Americans’ standards of living. This is the opposite of monopolistic behavior. Andrew Carnegie gave over $350 million to charity during his lifetime, including over $56 million to build 2,509 public libraries around the world. Criticism of Robber BaronsAmong common criticisms of the early robber barons included poor working conditions for employees, selfishness, and greed. Some robber barons—including Robert Fulton, Edward K. Collins, and Leland Stanford—earned their wealth through political entrepreneurship. Many wealthy railroad tycoons during the 1800s received privileged access and financing from the government via extensive use of lobbyists. They received monopolistic special licenses, per-mile subsidies, huge land grants, and low-interest loans. Special ConsiderationsWorking conditions in 19th century America were challenging, to say the least. While robber barons took advantage of their workers, they sometimes offered better working conditions than the norm of the day. Rockefeller and Ford, for example, paid higher-than-average wages, including bonuses for innovation or exceptional production. Managers often received long vacations at full pay. Some tycoons rank among the most noted philanthropists of all time. Rockefeller donated around 10% of every paycheck he ever earned. He gave almost $550 million to charity and championed biomedical research, public sanitation, medical training, and educational opportunities for disadvantaged minorities. Railroad tycoon James J. Hill publicized and provided free education about crop diversification, along with free seed grain, cattle, and wood to local communities. He would transport immigrants at reduced rates if they promised to farm near his railroads. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Copy CitationWhile every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style Copy CitationShare Share Share to social media Facebook Twitter URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/robber-baronGive Feedback External Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Your Feedback Submit FeedbackThank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. External Websites
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By Stephen Schneider Edit History Table of ContentsJohn Jacob Astor See all media Key People:George M. Pullman Andrew Carnegie J.P. Morgan John D. Rockefeller Jay Gould...(Show more)Related Topics:United States organized crime antitrust law restraint of trade...(Show more) See all related content → robber baron, pejorative term for one of the powerful 19th-century American industrialists and financiers who made fortunes by monopolizing huge industries through the formation of trusts, engaging in unethical business practices, exploiting workers, and paying little heed to their customers or competition. Alternatively, those who credit the explosive growth of American capitalism during this period to the indefatigable pursuit of success and material wealth are likely to celebrate these entrepreneurial tycoons as “captains of industry.” Among the sectors in which they compiled their great wealth were the oil, steel, liquor, cotton, textile, and tobacco industries, railroads, and banks. It has been argued that these capitalist pioneers were the “antecedents” of the organized crime that emerged in the United States during the Prohibition era (1920–33). The robber barons transformed the wealth of the American frontier into vast financial empires, amassing their fortunes by monopolizing essential industries. In turn, these monopolies were built upon the liberal use of tactics that are today the hallmark of organized crime: intimidation, violence, corruption, conspiracies, and fraud. John Jacob AstorAmong the earliest of the robber barons was John Jacob Astor, a fur magnate who amassed his fortune through the monopoly held by his American Fur Company over the trade in the central and western United States during the first 30 years of the 19th century. This monopoly was achieved in part by crushing rivals and systematically cheating Native Americans of fur pelts. When his competitors complained to the government, Astor’s agents resorted to violence. With his riches, Astor routinely paid off politicians to protect his business interests. At the time of his death, Astor was considered the wealthiest person in the country. James FiskJames Fisk, one Wall Street’s first great financiers, accumulated much of his fortune by fraudulent stock market practices. Fisk took much of the considerable money he made from smuggling Southern cotton to Northern mills during the American Civil War and invested it in Confederate bonds. He then swindled European investors by selling short when the defeat of the Confederate army was imminent but before Europe learned that the Confederate currency had collapsed. In 1866, he formed the brokerage firm Fisk and Belden, and later he and his colleagues protected their control over the Erie Railroad Company by issuing fraudulent stock. Along with his associates, Fisk attempted to corner the gold market by inflating the price, which was accomplished by bribing public officials to keep government gold off the market. The venture brought them vast sums but led to a securities market panic that began on September 24, 1869, a day that was long remembered as Black Friday. At the time, the negative repercussions of the gold hoarding shook the economy and the scandal-plagued administration of Pres. Ulysses S. Grant. Leland StanfordLeland Stanford became involved in Republican politics in California and was elected governor in 1861. While governor, Stanford approved millions of dollars in state grants for the construction of a transcontinental railroad line during a period when he was also president of the Central Pacific Railroad. With three colleagues, he formed the Pacific Association and used their combined assets to bribe congressmen and others with political influence in the country’s capital. In return, the association was provided 9 million acres (3.6 million hectares) and a $24 million loan financed by federal bonds. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now In addition, Stanford and his associates intimidated local governments into providing millions of dollars in subsidies by threatening to have the rail line bypass their communities. In 1885, Stanford was elected to the U.S. Senate by the legislature and re-elected in 1891. In 1885 also, he established what would later become Stanford University. Stanford died in 1893 worth more than $18 billion in 2004 dollars. John D. RockefellerJohn D. Rockefeller made his immense riches from monopolizing America’s oil industry. Conspiring with refinery owners, he helped found what became known as the Standard Oil monopoly. The consortium colluded with the railroads to monopolize oil delivery, prompting competitors to allow themselves to be bought by Standard Oil or be forced to pay outrageous shipping costs that would drive them out of business. These who stubbornly resisted were confronted with price wars. By 1890, the Rockefeller trust controlled approximately 90 percent of the petroleum production in the United States, a situation that led to the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act that same year. Other robber baronsAmong the others who are often counted among the robber barons are financier J.P. Morgan, who organized a number of major railroads and consolidated the United States Steel, International Harvester, and General Electric corporations; Andrew Carnegie, who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century; shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt; industrialist George Pullman, the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car; and Henry Clay Frick, who helped build the world’s largest coke and steel operations. Perhaps ironically, many of the robber barons were also among the most prominent and generous philanthropists in U.S. history. What is the connection between the industrial revolution and progressive movement?Progressives generally believed that industrialization was good for the United States, but they also contended that human greed had overcome industrialization's more positive effects. They hoped to instill in U.S. residents moral values based upon Protestant religious beliefs.
What was the relationship between progressivism and imperialism?Many Progressives, including U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, saw no conflict between imperialism and reform at home -to them, both were forms of uplift, reform and improvement, and so they saw in these new colonies an opportunity to further the Progressive agenda around the world.
How did muckrakers influence the progressive movement at the turn of the century?The muckrakers played a highly visible role during the Progressive Era. Muckraking magazines—notably McClure's of the publisher S. S. McClure—took on corporate monopolies and political machines, while trying to raise public awareness and anger at urban poverty, unsafe working conditions, prostitution, and child labor.
What was the role of muckrakers in the Progressive Era?Muckrakers were journalists and novelists of the Progressive Era who sought to expose corruption in big business and government. The work of muckrakers influenced the passage of key legislation that strengthened protections for workers and consumers.
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