ion dollars to good causes and established a model for all philanthropists who followed.In the textbook, America Past and Present, the authors portrayed John D. Rockefeller as a robber baron. He imposed order on the industry and had an ambition to build. Competition was wasteful and small-scale enterprise was inefficient. Consolidation was the path of the future because it revolutionized the way of doing business all over the world.Rockefeller was a man of religious beliefs, but he lacked charm, due to his distant and taciturn attitude. Anything that could increase profit Rockefeller would act on. Even if it was to reduce the number of drops of solder on kerosene by one penny could bring in more money at less cost. He always had the highest quality for the lowest price.As a result Rockefeller’s success, the first of modern trusts were born. This innovation started a trust movement in the lead, whiskey, and sugar industries. Trusts were known to be associated more with monopoly. This angered the public and sparked protest among the reformers.In the book The Rockefeller Files, by Gary Allen, Rockefeller is viewed as a robber baron. When John D. Rockefeller was coming close to monopolizing the oil industry, one of his most effective ploys was to capture a competitor from the inside. He would place his men inside a competitor’s office, or bribe employees of other firms to do his bidding( Allen 155). Today, John D.’s descendants now play the same game with our government. In 1894, Rockefeller’s corrupt influence started in the White House.CRITIQUE SECTIONI disagreed with Matthew Josephson because I believe that the only way to get ahead in business is to buy out your competition. Rockefeller was trying to monopolize the oil industry and he was going about it the right way, by building a partnership with the railroad company. I agreed with the Hidey’s points because Rockefeller was one of the main contributo...
