USA HISTORY

WESTWARD EXPANSION INDUSTRIALIZATION URBANIZATION 1870 1900

ROBBER BARONS

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
In 1901 JP Morgan’s US Steel was the first billion dollar company in the world. The size and productivity allowed the United States to compete globally against other industrialized countries like Great Britain and Germany
A
Captain of Industry
B
Robber Baron
C
Either A or B
D
None of the above
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -At one point in his life, he was a board member of as many as 48 corporations. However, Morgan engaged in some unethical and anticompetitive practices to ward off competition. For example, he was believed to head a money trust that controlled the banking industry and was commonly considered a figurehead of Wall Street.

Detailed explanation-2: -After his retirement, Andrew Carnegie donated most of his money (over $350 million) to establish libraries, schools, and universities, as well as a pension fund for former employees.

Detailed explanation-3: -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.

Detailed explanation-4: -The ingenuity of these entrepreneurs earned the titles of “Captains of Industry”. Yet, their ruthlessness in building wealth at the expense of their competitors, workers and consumers often earned them the title “Robber Baron”.

There is 1 question to complete.