Robber Baron
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University of Nairobi *
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HUMAN RESO
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History
Date
Nov 24, 2024
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docx
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3
Uploaded by ianmwabel
Running head: WAS JOHN D ROCKEFELLER A ROBBER BARON? 1
Was John D Rockefeller a Robber Baron?
Student’s Name
Institution
WAS JOHN D ROCKEFELLER A ROBBER BARON? 2
Was John D Rockefeller a Robber Baron?
A robber baron is someone who uses any means necessary to acquire resources. Others
may refer to that individual as a capitalist because of how they enrich themselves at the expense
of others. John Rockefeller is one of the well-known robber barons because of how he used his
innovative leadership to cause industrial chaos as he generated great fortune to enrich himself.
Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which he used to epitomize his
success and excess of corporate capitalism. His company was established in northwestern
Pennsylvania. John Rockefeller is a robber baron despite helping others because he used
deceptive and conspiratorial means to gain fortune. He used secret agreements and wrung
concessions from competitors such as America’s leading railroad companies. He wanted to
acquire everything for himself. He merged his company with the railroad companies and gained
control of a strategic transportation route that no other companies had access to. He used this
advantage to force the hand on the railroads, and he was granted a rebate on his oil shipments.
He wanted to put the competitors out of the market to exploit the employees and the oil
customers. Most of his transactions were carried out secretly to keep the competitors in the dark,
making him use different rates for the rebates. This made it hard for the competition to keep up
with Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company. The consequence was other oil companies getting
bought out by Rockefeller secretly. However, despite being a robber baron, Rockefeller created
employment opportunities for others and increased public welfare. Therefore, John D
Rockefeller was a great man of the 19th century who used innovative business tactics and
investments that his competitors did not have.
WAS JOHN D ROCKEFELLER A ROBBER BARON? 3
References
History, A. (2019).
John D. Rockefeller: Golden rules of life and success of the first official
dollar billionaire in history
. Outstanding People and Events.
Ladenburg, T. (2007). Chapter 7: Robber baron or industrial statesman.
In Digital history
. P. 28-
32.
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