Robber+Barons

=**Robber Barons: By Anne Burgess**=

=What Is A Robber Baron?= A robber baron is someone who creates a monopoly in the economy, which does not allow for any competition in the economy. Some people would argue that these robber barons were destroying the free-enterprise system. =Who were the Robber Barons?=
 * Alfred Krupp** was a robber baron whose industry was based in Germany. He inherited his company from his father, meaning that he did not have to work in order to start a company, he inherited the company at age fourteen when his father died. When he inherited the company it was almost bankrupt and had only seven employees. He spent the rest of his life making steel and doing whatever it takes to make it to the top, even if that meant lying in order to gain a client or investor. He was able to build the company up, but not without doing some shady things to get there. He lied and cheated his way to the top. Krupp made his first steel cannon in 1847, but at first it did not sell well at all, so he gave it to the King of Prussia as a gift. The Prussian army then started using Krupp as their main supplier of weapons. By the time he died, he had a monopoly over the entire steel industry in all of Europe, leaving no room for other manufacturers to even have a chance. Upon his death he passed the company on to his son, and by that time the company had over 75,000 employees.

=What Group Of People Would Think that People Like Alfred Krupp and Andrew Carnegie were Robber Barons?= The middle class, such as wealthy smaller business owners would probably be the ones to call these capitalists robber barons because they did not have a chance to really get their own business off the ground with these monopolies getting in the way.
 * Andrew Carnegie** was a robber baron who was also in the steel, but he had a monopoly over in America. Carnegie had made recent visits to Britain, so he was able to see that steel was going to be what was mainly used to make all sort of things such as household products and weapons. He then came back to America and built his empire. Although Carnegie was a robber baron, he was still a good person, he gave money away often, and set up a trust fund for the "improvement of mankind."

Does the Government Have the Right to Interfere if there is a Monopoly?
That is a matter of personal opinion, but I believe that in order to protect the free-enterprise system there needs to be at least some type of regulation on monopolies so that companies cannot just take over the entire economy and start charging ridiculous fees for small things

What Would Happen to the Economy if we had a Ton of Monopolies and Robber Barons?
If our economy was full of robber barons and monopolies, the prices on items would be absurd because these robber barons would be able to charge whatever they wanted for items because they have no competition. That is the beauty of the free enterprise system; companies have to fight to win over customers, so then the consumers are able to get a lower price.

Impact on the 19th Century
The robber barons sure had a huge impact on the 19th century. They made every business owner work harder just so that they could stay in business and not be bought out by someone with a monopoly. They created a race to see who could survive in the dog eat dog business world.

Bibliography:
"Alfred Krupp." //DISCovering World History//. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. From William G. Ratliff, "Alfred Krupp." //Great Lives from History//, Frank N. Magill, ed. Renaissance to 1900 Series, Vol. 1. Salem Press, 1989. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. [|http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/History/]

"Krupp -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. 27 Sept. 2009. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. .

"Andrew Carnegie." //Spartacus Educational - Home Page//. 12 May 2007. Web. 28 Sept. 2009. .

Minor, Robert. //Andrew Carnegie//. Digital image. //Andrew Carnegie//. 12 May 2007. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. .

"Alfred Krupp." //World History: The Modern Era//. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. .
"Carnegie Corporation - About." //Carnegie Corporation of New York : Home//. 15 May 2008. Web. 28 Sept. 2009. .