Rise of the Robber Barons:

¶ … Rise of the Robber Barons: John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and Collis Huntington

American society during post-Civil War period is characterized by a sudden increase in investments in the manufacturing industries. The increase in investments was spurred by the redistribution of wealth and income among the American people, a direct effect of the Civil War to the country's economy. Back in the 1860s, this economic turn would later become the primary catalyst for the growth of America economically, making it a major industrialized nation. It was during this period that the country's richest capitalists emerged, and these industrialists were popularly referred to as the Robber Barons.

The Robber Barons was a title given to America's richest industrialists (with assets and riches reaching to millions of dollars), whose wealth came from war-related industries, such as the manufacturing of steel, machinery, and other tools of the industrialized society, among others. America during the 19th century had attained economic power well beyond Germany's and Britain's; moreover, the American dollar was more than what it costs prior to the war, while ordinary people's wages had also increased. However, the wealth gap between the rich and the poor widened, and criticisms of the Robber Barons' unethical conduct and practice of businesses in the country became an issue. It was purported that these rich man had attained their millions by cheating on the supplies they provided the government, producing sub-standard quality products and supplies for soldiers during the war while imposing a higher price than the product's actual unit value.

Three of the most popular Robber Barons during the 19th century are John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry Huntington. Although they were considered as the bastions and foundation of America's industries and commerce, they were also considered 'models' of the gradually increasing social inequality in the country, having conquered and controlled almost all businesses in the country: railroad lines, oil refineries, and steelworks. They were also images of business owners who had subsisted to corrupting the government in order to win business contracts and biddings and conduct their business operations without any intervention from the government.