Chapter+6



[|Company Town Web-Quest]

Lesson Activities
Introduce your students to some individuals for whom the label "robber baron" is universally regarded as appropriate. Jim Fisk and Jay Gould clearly earned the title because they did not contribute to building something such as a railroad system. Instead, they destroyed such systems through clearly illegal actions and disregard for anyone else. Their actions hurt the economy of the United States. Read their story with—or to—the class from The Robber Barons, available on the PBS website, a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library. Now read with—or to—the class from The Panic of 1873, also on PBS. Ask students to explain why Jay Cooke deserves the title "robber baron." Such behavior as Fisk's, Gould's, and Cooke's clearly fits the criteria for a robber baron. Tell the class that the label cannot always be applied with such assurance. What if an action is illegal but leads to a positive end? What if a legal action ends with many workers or consumers suffering? Part of the students' job in Activity 2, below, will be to evaluate situations that are similarly ambiguous in the life histories of famous industrialists.

Robber Barons or Captains of Industry? Divide the class into four student groups (or eight, if you'd like each industrialist/financier to be researched by two groups). Assign one of the individuals below to each group. Distribute to the groups the chart "Robber Baron or Captain of Industry?" on page 1 of the PDF. Using the following resources and/or any other approved sources available in your classroom or online, each group should fill in the chart for their assigned individual. > > //It shall be the rule for the workman to be Partner with Capital, the man of affairs giving his business experience, the working man in the mill his mechanical skill, to the company, both owners of the shares and so far equally interested in the success of their joint efforts.// > —Andrew Carnegie > > > //I have been insane on the subject of moneymaking all my life.// > —Cornelius Vanderbilt > > //You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I'll ruin you.// > —Cornelius Vanderbilt > When the groups are finished with their research, have each present its conclusions and supporting evidence to the class. Is each assigned figure a robber baron or captain of industry or something in-between? Which of the individuals' actions were those of a captain of industry? Of a robber baron?
 * **Andrew Carnegie**
 * From the EDSITEment resource American Memory
 * Today in History
 * Edgar Thomson Works, Carnegie Steel Co (Click on any of the images for photographs.)
 * From America's Library, a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory
 * Andrew Carnegie
 * Andrew Carnegie Grows Up Working (Click "Next" for succeeding pages.)
 * Andrew Carnegie and His Parents (Click "Next" for succeeding pages.)
 * Andrew Carnegie Philanthropist (Click "Next" for succeeding pages.)
 * From The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie on The American Experience, a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library (NOTE: This site contains a great deal of information and documents relating to Carnegie, including those listed below.)
 * Letters about the Homestead Strike
 * Information about the Carnegie Mansion
 * Carnegie Biography
 * Interactive Timeline (Frames Version; [|Text Only Version])
 * The Two Andrews
 * Scotland to America
 * Welcome to Pittsburgh
 * Love Carnegie Style
 * The Wrong Career Path?
 * The American Experience | Andrew Carnegie | Gilded Age
 * How to Succeed in Life by Andrew Carnegie on the EDSITEment resource Learner.org
 * The Gospel of Wealth on The Internet Modern History Sourcebook, an extension of the EDSITEment resource The Internet Medieval Sourcebook
 * **Cornelius Vanderbilt**
 * From the EDSITEment resource HarpWeek
 * Cartoon, "The Great Race for the Western Stakes" (and brief text)
 * A Ferry to a Fortune on PBS
 * A Business Biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt, available via a link from the EDSITEment resource Links to the Past
 * "Cornelius Vanderbilt" and "The Erie Railroad Wars" (move down the page until you locate the sections entitled "Cornelius Vanderbilt" and "The Erie Railroad Wars") from American History 102: Civil War to the Present, a link from the EDSITEment resource History Matters
 * **J. Pierpont Morgan**
 * From the EDSITEment resource Learner.org
 * Labor Union versus Morgan
 * Brief Biography from The American Experience, a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library
 * Biography of Morgan from Morgan Library a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory
 * First Public Demonstration of Edison's Light Bulb from America's Library, a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory
 * Morgan Finances Edison on The Smithsonian Museum of American History. (Note: This archival document and the previous article are here for their reference to Morgan as one of Edison's "main investors," showing how a financier like Morgan contributed to the American economy and quality of life.)
 * **John D. Rockefeller**
 * From American Experience: The Rockefellersfrom PBS
 * John D. Rockefeller Timeline
 * The Rockefellers People
 * Biography of John D. Rockefeller, Senior
 * Paragraph on Rockefeller's cornering of the market and game
 * Annotated Timeline
 * Rockefeller's Mark on America: Interactive Map
 * Critical Letter to the //NY Times// about Rockefeller
 * Letters to Rockefeller Requesting Donations
 * Standard Oil of New Jersey (move down the page until you locate the section entitled "Standard Oil of New Jersey") on American History 102: Civil War to the Present, a link from the EDSITEment resource History Matters

Activity 3. Responding to the Workers
Read with—or to—the class any or all of the following pieces, available on the EDSITEment resource [|History Matters], written by workingmen and published in newspapers or magazines during the heyday of the industrialists. How do students believe their assigned industrialist would respond to these pieces? Either in groups or individually, have students write a hypothetical letter to the editor in response.
 * [|The Workingman's Ten Commandments]
 * [|Selfish Wealth is Never Good]
 * [|A Labor Newspaper Derides the Myth of the Self-Made Man]

Workers Respond

> > //It shall be the rule for the workman to be Partner with Capital, the man of affairs giving his business experience, the working man in the mill his mechanical skill, to the company, both owners of the shares and so far equally interested in the success of their joint efforts.// > —Andrew Carnegie
 * Note:** The Haymarket Affair and the Homestead Strike were violent and the language from both sides was inflammatory. Teachers should review all websites below before sharing with students.)
 * Haymarket Affair, 1886-87 (NOTE: The specific documents listed below are particularly useful but are by no means the only useful documents.)
 * From the EDSITEment resource American Memory
 * Chicago Anarchists on Trial (If desired, share this definition of an anarchist with the students: An anarchist is someone who rejects completely the need for a government and wants to abolish it.)
 * Proclamation Granting Eight-Hour Day for federal workers, 1869 (Includes text. Click on the image for larger versions.)
 * From The Dramas of Haymarket on The Chicago Historical Society, a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory
 * Haymarket Affair Chronology
 * Haymarket Affair Narrative
 * Highlights of the Collection
 * Broadside: Revenge!
 * Haymarket Affair Digital Collection: Table of Contents
 * Act I: Subterranean Fire (The last few paragraphs starting with the words, "On May 4, exactly a year…")
 * Who Threw The Bomb?
 * From Haymarket Riot (Chicago Public Library), a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory
 * Another Summary of Events
 * Haymarket Photo Library (NOTE: "Photo" is a misnomer here. This page contains digitized images of various graphics related to the Haymarket Affair such as posters and editorial cartoons.)
 * From The Haymarket Tragedy, a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory
 * May Day Remembered, a recent poem commemorating the May Day event
 * Narrative About the Eventual Pardon
 * From Haymarket Trial on [|Famous Trials], a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library
 * Timeline of the American Labor Movement
 * Summary of Trial (Includes a brief discussion of anarchism.)
 * Homestead Strike, 1892 (NOTE: The specific documents listed below are particularly useful but are by no means the only useful documents.)
 * From Andrew Carnegie, the Richest Man in the World on [|The American Experience], a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library
 * The Steel Business (Discusses what a steel mill is like.)
 * Strike at Homestead Mill
 * Homestead Letters
 * The Homestead Strike
 * From the EDSITEment resource History Matters
 * The Musical Saga of Homestead "Workers sang during strikes not only to state their beliefs and goals, but because singing helped bind workers together. The Homestead strike of 1892 even had its own Homestead Strike Songster, and the story of the strike can be traced in the lyrics of the following four songs."
 * "I Will Kill Frick": Emma Goldman Recounts the Attempt to Assassinate the Chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company During the: Homestead Strike in 1892 "Known for his uncompromising and cruel tactics, Frick became an obvious target for labor activists looking to make a statement during the protracted strike."
 * Frick's Fracas: Henry Frick Makes His Case "During the 1892 strike at the Homestead Steel Works, plant manager Henry Clay Frick attempted to defeat the strikers forcibly by hiring three hundred armed agents of the notorious Pinkerton Detective Agency. The strikers fought back, and, after casualties and deaths on both sides, the Pinkertons surrendered. In the aftermath of the Pinkerton debacle, Frick spoke with a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post. He laid out his implacable opposition to dealing with the union, his belief that the Pennsylvania governor should send in troops, and his goal of reducing wages at the plant, the central issue in the conflict. Frick argued that the Homestead owners were not allowed to reap the fruits of their investment because of workers' inordinately high wage scales. The union, on the other hand, claimed that the cost of producing steel at Homestead was well below the industry standard, in large measure because the Homestead workers had cooperated in the recent mechanization of the plant."
 * Sweatshops and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, 1911 (NOTE: The specific documents listed below are particularly useful but are by no means the only useful documents.)
 * From Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A History of American Sweatshops, 1820 to the Present on the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, a link from the EDSITEment resource American Studies at the University of Virginia
 * Tenement Sweatshops
 * Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
 * From The Triangle Factory Fire, a link from the EDSITEment resource Women and Social Movements
 * Introduction
 * Sweatshops and Strikes Before 1911 (Gives background information.)
 * My First Job (Tells about working conditions.)
 * //New York Times// Account of the Fire (March 26, 1911)
 * Stories of Survivors (from the New York Times, March 26, 1911)
 * Triangle Fire on the EDSITEment resource New Deal Network
 * Obituary of the Last Survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire on National Public Radio, a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library