The American Industrial age was marked with many scientific advancements, made by many different people. In this essay, I’m going to give a brief summary of the lives of some of the people that were important to the American Industrial Age.
To begin, I’m going to talk about the people that we learned about this week, before I move on to actual inventions. Please note that I am going for quantity over quality and length for these summaries, because I am attempting to cover a lot of people, so bear that in mind as you read these next few paragraphs.
Cornelius Vanderbilt grew up in New York, helping his father work on his ferry. At sixteen, Cornelius had bought his own ship and had begun working as a ferryman himself. Vanderbilt began to acquire other companies after his initial success in his ferry business. Vanderbilt had some very interesting tactics to get rid of competition. He would use a lawsuit to shut them down, buy out the other company, or they would partner. He was able to get control of most of the shipping market because of this. In a risky endeavor, he sold off all of his shipping stock, and then spent the money on railroad stock. This ended up being a smart move for Vanderbilt, as he profited greatly.
John D. Rockefeller was another of the most wealthy American entrepreneurs. In 1863, Rockefeller invested in his first oil refinery. By 1870 he had founded Standard Oil, and he would buy out small company after small company, until his company grew to control 90% of the kerosene industry. He was an innovator, and built pipelines so that he didn’t have to transport the oil by rail anymore. Because the government decided intervene with Rockefeller’s business, he had to break up his company. He spent the rest of his life giving away his massive wealth, and started several charities.
Andrew Carnegie’s second job in the workforce was his first important one; He became a telegraph operator. He would go on to become one of the fastest telegraph operators in his area, and would become known for that. His mentor taught him how to make money from investing in stocks and also advised him to build a major road across the Mississippi River. Carnegie built the bridge out of steel, introducing him to the industry that would make him famous. Carnegie would go on to build a steel mill and produce his own steel for his company. He began to manufacture steel for other companies as well. Carnegie would go on to spend his money on all sorts of charities.
J.P. Morgan owned one of the largest banking firms in history, and was the richest man for a time. He got rich off of “remorganizationâ€, which is reorganizing multiple smaller firms into one larger, more powerful firm. He would later go on to buy Carnegie Steel for millions of dollars. Through all of this, Morgan made lots of money which he would give away to charities later on in his life.
Henry Ford was the famous founder of the automobile company Ford, which is still a common car manufacturer today. He was the mind behind the Model T, and also the assembly line. He also gave his workers a great wage in a time when there were not many labor laws, and so he had a great employer retention percentage.
In conclusion, all of these rich men played a pretty large role in the industrial age of America, and have shaped some of the industries that they worked in.