Colihan and Vitcusky
Industrialization
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The Great Industrialists: Captains of Industry or Robber Barons?
Authors: Christine Colihan and Amy Vitcusky
August 2006
Lesson Description: This lesson will introduce three of the major big
business leaders of late 19th century America. Students will learn that
these big business leaders are viewed in two ways in American societycaptains of industry or robber barons. Students will learn how the big
business leaders organized their companies, as well as arguments for and
against philanthropy and come to their own conclusion as to whether John D.
Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and Gustavus Swift helped or harmed
America- based on their own research.
Grade: 11th grade United State History (1865-Present) – mixed ability
classroom
Time Required: Two ninety-minute blocks
Benchmarks Addressed:
1. History Standard #2 Analysis: Students will gather, examine and
analyze historical data. (9-12) Students will develop and implement
effective research strategies for investigating a given historical topic
This standard will be addressed by having students research three
big business leaders of the late 19th century (Rockefeller, Carnegie
and Swift) and coming to their own conclusion as to whether each
should be remembered as a captain of industry or robber baron.
2. History Standard #3 Interpretation: Students will interpret
historical data. (9-12) Students will compare competing historical
narratives, by contrasting different historians choice of
questions….and how these factors contribute to different
interpretations.
This standard will be addressed by having students analyze two
different historian’s interpretations of big business leaders of
the late 19th century and discuss how if both historians were
looking at the same person- how can they come to different
conclusions?
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Essential Question Addressed:
1. How can historians research and investigate the same person and arrive at
different conclusions?
Enduring Understanding:
1. Students will understand that historians (themselves included) use in a
certain way that will support evidence to interpret events/people etc. their
thesis - this is the reason why two historians can research the same person
and arrive at different conclusions.
Materials:
1. Lecture Notes- Industrialization and Big Business Leaders
2. Primary Source Analysis- Henry George vs. Andrew Carnegie
3. Historian A vs. Historian B- different interpretations of 19th century
big business leaders.
4. Research directions and website list for students
5. Culminating essay instructions and rubric for essay
Procedures:
1. Introductory Activity- Ask students to decide if Bill Gates, Donald
Trump, etc. should give large sums of their fortunes to charity? Is it
their responsibility? Should they be forced to give their money away?
Give reasons why. This activity serves as an introduction to the big
business leaders of the late 19th century and how they were viewed in
American society- similar to the way we view our current big business
leaders.
2. Mini-Lecture on Big Business leaders and industrialization in America
3. Primary source analysis (Henry George (social reformer) vs. Andrew
Carnegie (head of Carnegie Steel)) Students will analyze different
quotes from the two men in pairs and answer the questions that
follow.
4. Class discussion and answering of the guiding questions.
5. Historian A vs. Historian B- this serves as introductory activity to the
next day’s research. Students in pairs will read two short narratives
from two different historians with different interpretations of big
business in the late 19th century and answer the questions that follow.
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6. Class discussion on how historians can come to different
interpretations on the same topic. Tell students that tomorrow they
will be researching three big business leaders and come to their own
conclusion.
7. Handout research, websites and essay directions. Students should
have one day in library to work on research- essay can be due at a
later time.
8. Debrief- After the research has been completed take a minute to ask
students the essential question -How can historians research and
investigate the same person and arrive at different conclusions? Use
different students as examples as to how historians can look at the
same person and come to different conclusions. After discussion,
place masking tape on the ground, about 3-4 feet and put on left side
“Captain or industry” and right side “Robber Baron”, for each
industrialist have students “take a stand” on the spectrum and defend
their decision and how they arrived it- do this for each industrialist
Assessment:
1. Students will research three men: John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie
and Gustavus Swift. First they will find out basic information on them. The
final part of the project will be an essay in which they establish their opinion
as to whether each man was a captain of industry or a robber baron- giving
ample amounts of evidence for their argument. The essay should be at least
one page per man. Rubric is provided.
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Handout 1: Lecture Notes
Outline Notes
I. Industrialization and Big Business
A. New technology/inventions sets stage for industrial growth in
America after 1850
B. Big Business leaders- John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and
Gustavus Swift. They are viewed in two ways:
1. Captains of Industry:
a.)
served USA positively, created jobs
b.)
Philanthropists- giving to charities, founding
libraries and museums
2. Robber Barons:
a.)
built fortunes from exploiting workers
b.)
drained USA’s natural resources
C. Social Darwinism- Big Business men justified what they did by
Darwin’s theory of evolution “only the strong survive”
D. Federal Government- lassiez-faire policies- hands off of business
practices and people, no regulations
E. Creating a Big Business
1. Monopoly: buying out competitors in same business, prices
rise (only one choice)
2. Trust: similar businesses turning over assets to a board to
control prices and competition.
3. Consolidation: creating huge businesses controlled by one
company (Vertical and Horizontal)
F. Some Americans believed big business was bad- didn’t protect
workers and consumers. Federal government begins to interfere:
1. Sherman Anti-Trust Act 1890: Law passed to restrict
creations of big businesses. Began breaking big companies
up.
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Handout 2- George vs. Carnegie
1883
Henry George
“Beneath all political problems lies the social problem of the distribution of
wealth”
“A civilization which tends to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of
the fortunate few, and to make of others mere human machines, must
inevitably evolve anarchy and bring destruction.”
“The tendency in all branches of industry is to the formation of rings against
which the individual is helpless, and which exert their power upon
government whenever their interests may thus be served.”
“It is not merely positively, but negatively, that great aggregations of
wealth, whether individual or corporate, tend to corrupt government and
take it out of the control of the masses of the people.”
“That he who produces should have, that he who saves should enjoy, is
consistent with human reason and with the natural order. But existing
inequalities of wealth cannot be justified on this ground. As a matter of
fact, how many great fortunes can be truthfully said to have been fairly
earned?”
1889 Andrew Carnegie
“Not evil, but good, has come to the race from the accumulation of wealth
by those who have had the ability and energy to produce it”
“The contrast between the palace of the millionaire and the cottage of
the laborer with us today measures the change which has come with
civilization. This change however is not to be deplored, but welcomed as
highly beneficial.”
“The Socialist or the Anarchist who seeks to overturn present conditions
is to be regarded as attacking the foundation upon which civilization
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itself rests, for civilization took its start from the day when the capable,
industrious workman said to his incompetent and lazy fellow, “If thou
dost not sow, though shalt not reap”, and thus ended primitive communism
by separating the drones from the bees.”
“We shall have an ideal State, in which surplus wealth of the few will
become, in the best sense, the property of the many, because
administered for the common good; and this wealth, passing through the
hands of the few, can be made a much more potent force for the
elevation of our race than if distributed in small sums to the people
themselves.”
“This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: To set an
example of modest living, shunning extravagance; to provide moderately
for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; and after doing so,
to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds,
which he is called upon to administer in the manner which, in his
judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for
the community- the man of wealth thus becoming a mere trustee and
agent for his poorer brethren.”
Discussion:
1. Using the above quotes, create a basic summary of Henry George and
Andrew Carnegies argument as to how big business leaders
affect/should affect America.
2. What do you think the aim of each writer was?
3. Who do you think the intended audience for each was?
4. What do you think Andrew Carnegie would think of the Hilton family?
5. Who do you agree with and why? Explain and give examples (RARE)
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Handout 3- Historical Interpretations
Historian A 1927
“The industrialist robber barons of the late 19th century were predatory and
materialistic; their bloated corporations were threats to those humane and
democratic values that made America great. Business tycoons turned
modern America, with its standardize life and machine culture, into a place in
which Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln would be strangers. The giants of
industry were primitive souls, ruthless, predatory, capable; single-minded
men, rogues, and rascals often, but never feeble.”
Historian B 1953
“Much of the blame heaped on the captains of industry in the late 19th
century is unwarranted. Although people like Rockefeller used methods that
were ethically questionable, the kind of monopolistic control that they
exercised was a natural response to the cutthroat competition of the period
and reflected the trend toward business consolidation in all industrial
nations. The captains of industry like Rockefeller were innovators, thinkers,
planners, and bold entrepreneurs who imposed upon American industry a
more rational and efficient pattern. They also created a model of
philanthropy for all to follow. Had it not been for these captains of
industry, the free world might have lost the first world war and most
certainly have lost the second.”
Questions to answer:
1. What is the thesis of historian A?
2. What is the thesis of historian B?
3. How might both of these historians arrived at different conclusions?
4. What kinds of evidence might each historian to look at in order to
support his thesis? Give at least two specific examples.
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Handout 4- Research
Research requirements.
You have been asked to construct your own interpretations of three major
big business leaders in late 19th century America and come to your own
conclusion concerning whether history should view these men as Captains of
Industry or Robber Barons. The three men you research will be:
1. John D. Rockefeller (Oil)
2. Andre Carnegie (Steel)
3. Gustavus Swift (Meatpacking)
For each man, you must create a short biography that includes the following
information. Be sure to include a works cited page.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Birth and Death date
Picture
Describe his early life (born, family, etc).
Business started out in and eventual rise to top
How he organized his business/ new inventions
How he treated his competition and his overall business practices
Philanthropy
Here are three websites to get you started.
1. John D. Rockefeller: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers
2. Andrew Carnegie: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie
3. Gustavus Swift:
http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/prog14/transcript/page03.html
Note: Other sources should be used as Wilkepedia allows anyone to submit entries onto their
online encyclopedia.
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Handout 5- Captain or Robber?
Essay: Captains of Industry or Robber Baron
You have now learned about three big business leaders of the late 19th
century. Along with your biographies of each (Rockefeller, Carnegie and
Swift) you are going to come to your own conclusion as to whether each man
should be viewed as a captain of industry or robber baron. You must provide
evidence to support your position. This essay must be typed, double spaced
and include your biographies.
Rubric:
Part One: Research
Birth and Death date
Picture
Describe his early life (born, family, etc).
Business started out in and eventual rise to top
How he organized his business/ new inventions
How he treated his competition
and his overall business practices
Philanthropy
Part Two: Essay
4
3
2
1
___ 5 points
___ 5 points
___ 10 points
___ 10 points
___ 10 points
___ 10 points
___ 10 points
-Student came to conclusion of Captain of Industry
or Robber Baron for each man- included in thesis
-Student gave at least three pieces of evidence to
support their conclusion
-Student came to conclusion of Captain of Industry
or Robber Baron for each man- included in thesis
-Student gave at least two pieces of evidence to
support their conclusion
- Student came to conclusion of Captain of Industry
or Robber Baron for each man- included in thesis
-Student gave at least one piece of evidence to
support their conclusion
-Student did not come to clear conclusion or give
evidence for their conclusion