Please create a formal essay using the prompt. Scholarly writing will be expected in the responses. Do not forget to use references and cite those using Turabian APA, or MLA. 300-500 word essay
The late 19th century saw the growth of massive corporations and trusts controlled by hugely powerful individuals known as “captains of industry” or “robber barons”. These industrialists, such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Cornelius Vanderbilt modernized entire industries like oil, steel, railroads, and banking, generating enormous fortunes in the process. Their supporters praised them as embodiments of the American Dream—self-made men who rose from modest means to build business empires through vision, talent, and hard work. However, their critics cast them as greedy villains who exploited workers, crushed competition through shady practices, manipulated financial systems, and wielded excessive political influence solely for personal gain.
Write an essay in which you:
– Assess whether the captains of industry during the Gilded Age deserve praise as champions of economic growth and progress or condemnation as exploitative robber barons.
– Support your position with specific evidence on their business philosophies and impact on innovation, productivity gains, working conditions, competition, wealth inequality, and power over government.
– Recognize arguments and evidence on the other side but explain why your evaluation is more historically accurate.
Be sure to demonstrate understanding of arguments on both sides while making your own case about whether their legacy was one of productive economic development or abusive greed that harmed the public interest.