trepreneurs were Andrew Carnegie James J. Hill, Cornelius Vanderbilt and John D. Rockefeller. It's said that before John D. Rockefeller died, "he gave away about $550,000,000 to charity, more than any other American before him had ever possessed" (98). His money went to schools, churches and also "paid teams of scientists who found cures for yellow fever, meningitis, and hookworm"(97). Rockefeller even wrote in a letter to a partner, "we must remember we are refining oil for the poor man and he must have it cheap and good" (83). These stories that Folsom tell of Rockefeller lead the reader to believe that he was a great person. On the other hand, in many textbooks the view of Rockefeller is different. Folsom considers the idea of robber barons to be a myth because he believes these entrepreneurs helped America grow and become the world super power it is today.Folsom commented that, "studying the rise of big business is important because it is the story of how the United States prospered and became a world super power"(121). Although in our textbook, Who Built America?, they show the side of robber barons as being greedy. They also tell of robber barons making huge fortunes and the workers didn't get to see much of that money because, they were being paid so little. Folsom criticizes textbooks, such as ours, for mainly only telling the political entrepreneur side of businessmen. He also says, historians have a misconception about entrepreneurs because many teach things like this: "Entrepreneurs cut costs and made many contributions to American economic growth, but they also marred political life by bribing politicians and misusing government funds" (127). I agree with Folsom when he suggests that there are two kinds of entrepreneurs, market and political. I feel that political entrepreneurs, like Folsom say's, "fit the classic robber baron mold" (1). But, I do disagree with him on his overall view of market entrepreneurs. I think ma...
