The Robber Barons

The Robber Barons were an elite group of industrial magnates who emerged after the civil war in the United States.  Today their name is associated with US businessmen and bankers who have be known to use unscrupulous methods in order to make their fortunes.  From shortly after the civil war up until the early 20th century these men changed the face of American business and industry in ways that no one had seen before.  Most of these men came from Middle-class to Upper-class families, and in some cases were inventors who used what they had created to become industrial magnates in their time.   These men were geniuses in their own rights, using methodologies and business practices that produced businesses that even some, last until today.  The down side was the way that these businesses were run, these men were opportunistic, quick to use any means available to them, and in some cases working their workers in conditions that were hazardous and deplorable.  Saying that does not change the fact that because of these men the American industrial revolution happened.  These are the men that created the American industrial nation we have today and these are their stories.

Philip Danforth Armour

Intro

Philip Danforth Armour was born on May 16^th 1832 in Stockbridge, New York. He attended the Cazenovia Academy and dropped out of school to work at the family farm.  Before settling in Wisconsin and becoming a business tycoon Armour had multiple jobs across the east and west. In California he worked in the gold fields and made enough money. With this, he moved to Wisconsin where he started off with his own grocery store business. With his brothers, Armour entered the meat industry in Chicago and established Armour&Co in 1867.

How did these men organize their businesses?

Philip Armor operated a large scaled meat packing business that also had its own refrigeration trucks. With fast production came poor working conditions. Workers were paid frugally while working long hours and were often sick due to poor sanitary conditions. Slaughtering of the hogs took place mainly during the wintertime. The meat products were transported by the Armour Refrigerated Truck Lines. The transcontinental railroad was well established by this time and he used this to enter markets across the country, and in Europe. Armour was, also, a pioneer in continuous production- conveyor belts and natural ice.

What led to their successes?

Armour’s business methodology was to “use everything”. In slaughtering animals he used everything. From just a hog he was able to make glue, lard, gelatin, and also margarine products. He capitalized on animals that were thrown into the Chicago River. Philip was convinced that the meatpacking industry was promising in Chicago and with his family established “Armour&Co”. Armour was a true American- he believed in hard work and capitalization of new un-touched markets through vast and quick production.

Conclusion

Amour- a businessman from the Gilded Age was a Robber Barron. He capitalized on the meatpacking industry. Although the company was known for its poor working conditions, it fed America during the Civil war and after.

Works Cited

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1724.html

http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/prog14/transcript/page04.html

 

 Gayatri Desai

Henry Ford- 1863-1947

Intro to Henry Ford:

Henry Ford was the first child to a very prosperous family in what is now known as Dearborn, Michigan. Very early on, to the dismay of his father, he began to show a huge interest in mechanics and not so much interest in farming. At age 16, he left his parents home and became an apprentice to a mechanic in Detroit. He did that for three years and then moved back to Dearborn. He did odd jobs and helped his father. He was married in 1888 to Clara Bryant and supported the 2 by running a saw mill.

                In 1891, Ford, along with his wife, moved back to Detroit and became an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company (The Henry Ford). After only two short years he was promoted to Chief Engineer and devoted his life to mechanics and the combustible engine.  Ford’s first big break came with his Quadricycle in 1896. Though it was not the first self propelled engine of its kind it had four wheels and two speeds (The Henry Ford).

Ford Motor Company:

                Many would be surprised to find out that before Ford Motor Company was a thriving business, there were two failed attempts by Henry Ford to establish a company that manufactured automobiles. Ford Motor Company started as a small company with Henry Ford as the Vice President; as well as chief engineer. Their ‘assembly line’ consisted of groups of two or three men working to construct one car. In 1908 transportation advanced even more with the invention of the Model T. By 1910, the Ford Motor Company had moved and began to produce parts for the vehicles in house, create more interchangeable parts, and form an assembly line that would take car building to the next level. Ford’s assembly line of men consisted of one man doing one thing to each vehicle. The parts would be delivered to the worker by means of conveyor belt as would the piece they are assembling. Because of the assembly line, Ford Motor Company was able to produce more cars at a faster pace, thus making them cheaper to construct and sell. Not only did Ford’s assembly line change the face of the car industry but other industries as well.

                In the 1920s Ford Motor Company began to grow rapidly. By this time the Model T was selling for only $360 per vehicle and the assembly line was becoming more and more productive (Spartacus). In a 24 hour time span Ford Motors could produce 10,000 cars and by 1927 Ford had sold more than 15 million Model Ts. Henry Ford wanted to appeal to all of America not just the wealthy. According to American-business.org, not only did the Model T make if affordable for most Americans but he also was the first to implement a payment plan for vehicles. The increased the sales for Ford Motor Company as well as Ford’s and the company’s image.

But, with every great business boom comes an ugly turn. General Motor’s Chevrolet was outselling the Model T and was by far the more popular car by the late 1920’s (Spartacus). Henry Ford had not had a mind for making more model before 1927, he though the Model T was all he needed.  

During the Second World War Ford and Ford Motor Company helped produce more than 8,000 bomber engines as well as helped in the production of other military equipment. During Roosevelt’s presidency the New Deal was introduced and Ford refused to support is as well as the United Automobile Union Workers (Spartacus). Though Ford died in 1947, the Ford Motor Company is still one of the top selling and producing car companies in the world.

Sites I used:

http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/default.asp#childhood

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAford.htm

Kelsey Christensen

Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) made a huge impact on the communication sector of our society. His ambitious desire and hard work brought forth one of the greatest inventions we still use today, the telephone.  This started from his desire to help the deaf to speak. This was done through his father’s idea of visible speech, in which deaf are taught to speak through sight of the mouth moving and feeling the movement of the vocals.  This, in-turn, lead to Bell gaining a desire to help all people communicate more efficiently.  He became interested in improving the telegraph to become a multi signal transmitter.  Through his experiments Bell came across the devise  that he would turn in to the first telephone.  This was what would give Bell the financial drive to fund and promote his future inventions.  He acquired a patent and soon after offered to sell it but was turned down due to not being as well credited as other inventors.  Because of this line of events he created his own phone company, Bell Telephone Company (many of you may remember South Western Bell), now known as AT&T.

 

Much controversy followed Bell for many years. Law suits from so many scientists plagued Bell but due to his articulate note taking and exact time line of his inventions and ideals he was able to protect his works from being claimed by someone less deserving.

AT&T started out with Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the long distance land line and has progressed into wireless phones, cell phone, wireless internet, etc. All because of one man’s hard work and determination, it has impacted the society in such a way that it still exist today. 


Justin David Young

Aaron Montgomery Ward

Aaron Montgomery Ward was a pioneer in the field of mail-order retail. His achievements and business strategy proved successful where others have failed. His rapidly growing company changed how Americans shopped for goods and employed many citizens of Chicago in an era of rapid industrialization. Drawing from real life experiences, he created a company not only appealing to Americans in urban areas but rural as well.

Ward, a New Jersey native, moved to Chicago in 1866, where he found a job with Marshall Field & Co.  As a traveling salesman for Marshall Field & Co, Ward would sell their products in hard-to-reach rural areas. Through the several years he did this, the cities in the late 19^th century evolved in the area of shopping for goods. Shopping in itself was an activity to be planned for and taken a whole day to do. One of Marshall Field and Co’s department stores, the “Grand Emporium” in Chicago, was a place to showcase technological innovations and an amazing array of different products under one roof. These products were appealing not only to those living in cities but to those living in rural areas as well and Ward recognized that. To capitalize on this consumer desire, Ward and business partner, George R. Thorne, created the world’s first great mail-order retail company in 1872.

The company’s humble beginnings started with a 32 page long catalog in 1874; to 152-page by 1876; to 1000-page in 1897 with annual sales around $7 million dollars. Not only supplying jobs for thousands of workers in Chicago, where the headquarters was located, Ward following the lead of other competitors such as Sears, Montgomery Ward opened up retail stores across America thus providing jobs for upward of 70,000 people nation-wide. Montgomery Ward’s was one of the few stores that not only survived the great depression but thrived and grew.

We will remember Aaron Montgomery Ward for revolutionizing the way we shop. His ideas and business strategies gave way to such companies like “eBay” that practically define our culture today. His slogan, “satisfaction guaranteed or you money back”, proved appealing to the public and shaped the way he did business and the way his competitors did business. At the height of his company, its annual sales were above 1 billion dollars but abruptly ended after 130 years in business as a leading American retailer.

 

Mark R. Wilson. Stephen R. Porter. Janice L Reiff.:  2004: “Ward (Montgomery) & Co.”: Encyclopedia of Chicago: Http://enclycolpedia.chicago.history.org

Francisco A Herrera