Robber Barons and Industrial Statesman Essays -

During the 19th century many groups of people rose in power. There were many political parties such as the Greenbacks/Populists and there were groups of people who rose in our economy such as the so-called ?robber barons? and ?industrial statesman?. Robber Barons were greedy and selfish people that threatenly took away from an area in order to overly-dominate a certain region of people. On the contrary, Industrial Statesmen were giving and morally sound people who own the sphere of industry and help improve society as a whole. Although it?s justifiable to call some people who rose in power industrial statesman, it?s more accurate to classify them as Robber Barons because they were greedy, selfish, and unethical. While myriads of Robber Barons rose in power, many Industrial Statesmen rose and succeeded as well. These giving and morally sound people were people who owned the industrial sphere and who try to better the society. Thomas Alva Edison is an example of a very prominent industrial statesman during the time period. He worked on creating a huge laboratory that will help give many people jobs and create inventions that the people needed. Edison would soon make money off of his company but he did it to help better society as a whole by giving jobs and creating resources they could need. (Doc. B) Due to people like Edison, society was better improved. There were many people during the 19th century that would do anything for money. These greedy people were all over and one of the most prominently known robber barons was William Vanderbuilt. Vanderbuilt was an extremely greedy person who only cared about money. He once made a statement ?The pubic be damned.? In an interview Vanderbuilt had said this talking about the development of railroads; he only invested in the railroads so he could make money for himself. (Doc. A) The railroads were created for public use and to be used to help better our community. However, robber barons such as Vanderbuilt showed how greedy they can be to take something from the public and turn it into something for their person gain. Not only were Robber Barons considered greedy but they were considered selfish as well. When morally sound and ethical people get rich, they tend to use their money to benefit the community. However, Robber Barons were not ethical people; they used their money for themselves and didn?t care about their communities. William G. Sumner is an example of this behavior, he says that when people became rich the money was for their benefit and there benefit only because they are the ones that worked hard to get the money they earned. (Doc. G) Although this may be true, no one person needed as much money as big time entrepreneurs such as Vanderbuilt and Rockefeller were receiving and could help out the community everyone once in a while. Such Robber Barons were unethical, selfish people. Many political and economic groups rose into power during the 19th century. From the Greenbacks/Populists to the Robber Barons/Industrial Statesman, many problems occurred throughout the country. The Robber Barons and Industrial Statesman were people who had tons of power and chose to use it for good and bad. The Barons made selfish, unethical decisions while the Statesman made helpful, ethical decisions reguarding society. Throughout the 19th century, the Robber Barons over-powered the Statesman with their greedy, selfish, and unethical behavior.