Carnagie, Rockefeller, And Pullman Essay, Research Paper

Carnagie, Rockefeller, and PullmanWhen the names Carnagie, Rockefeller, and Pullman come to mind,most of us automatically think of what we saw or read in our historybooks: “These men were kind and generous and through hard work andperseverance, any one of you could become a success story like them,”right? Wrong. I am sick of these people being remembered for the two orthree “good deeds” they have done. Publicity and media have exaggeratedthe generosity of these men, the government has spoiled these names withfalse lies, and people have been blind to see that these men wereruthless, sly businessmen who were motivated by your money and theirstruggle for power. George M. Pullman is best remembered for his contributions to the railroadindustry through the invention of his Pullman Cars. The cars sold welland the railroad industry flourished with this new invention. Althoughthe success attached to his name, not many people know the real truthbehind this robber baron. His greed for money took him to extrememeasures as his workers were seriously mistreated and put under strictrestrictions. For instance, every worker had to live in his village(Pullman, IL) and under no circumstances was anyone allowed to leave. Thepeople had to buy from his store, pay him rent, and attend work every day. People who did not abide were heavily penalized by their name beingwritten on black book (which meant that this worker couldn t get a job inany other industrial field). How many history books teach such in-depthdetails like these?Another prime example of the acts of a robber baron can be seen throughthe actions of John D. Rockefeller. A picture in my history book shows agroup of people watching an old Rockefeller crouch over to accept a flowerfrom a little girl. The caption reads “John D. Rockefeller, Americanindustrialist and philanthropist, is caught doing one of his good deeds.”No wonder that only a handful of people can t distinguish that this oldman was a crock and deserves to rot in hell! With all this positive media

attention, the public had been fed lies! In real life, this money hungry,greedy villain is the prime reason why the Sherman Antitrust Act waspassed. Rockefeller s dream was to monopolize the oiling industry, and heso successfully did. Because of his great empire (the Standard Oil Co.)and the wealth it brought, when any other competitor tried even to stepfoot into the oiling industry, Rockefeller dropped his prices until therookie industry was forced out. After he !regained monopoly, he then jacked up the prices. Sure, the people weremad, but what could they do? Many other industries depended on the oilthat Rockefeller provided and besides, the Sherman Antitrust Act couldn tbe enforced with these big businesses growing larger and larger. He donated over 2500 libraries worldwide, he helped establish the famousconcert hall in New York, and he helped finance several colleges in theUS. Can you guess who he is? Yes! Andrew Carnagie. Now how about thisperson: In the early 1900s, in order to maintain control of the steelindustry, he bought out rival plants, he ran a self running holdingcompany which bough stock in itself in order to buy control of theindustry, and he also hired children (as young as 9 years old) to worktwelve hours a day under harsh, dangerous conditions and paid them thelowest wages possible. Can you guess who he is now? As a matter of factit is our “American Hero” Andrew Carnagie! Carnagie did, for a fact, hirechildren because they were “cheaper”; yet these same children weresometimes required to run swing shifts which meant occasional 24 hour workdays. It all too much of a commonality that these robber barons all share someof the same traits: ruthlessness, mistreatment of their workers, greed formoney and power, and a Machiavelian way of doing business. With thesetraits in mind, who can consider these men heroes? It s the governmentand the big businesses which want us to think that way. It can only bethem who portray these wicked as saints. But I am educated, and throughresearch and learning, I am thoroughly convinced that the people who ourAmerica looks up to and admires, are a bunch of villains.