Industrialism and the Gilded Age

• Industrialism: Shift to mass production and consumption.
• Gilded Age: Period marked by the rise of large corporations dominating industries like railroad, steel and oil.

Key Figures and Industries

• Oil Industry: John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil controlled 90% of the oil industry through horizontal integration.
  • Horizontal Integration: Buying out competitors to eliminate competition.
• Steel Industry: Andrew Carnegie dominated through vertical integration.
  • Vertical Integration: Acquiring all supporting industries (mining, processing, distribution).

Expansion and Influence

• Industry leaders sought foreign markets and resources in places like the Pacific Rim, Asia, and Latin America.
• This influenced America's move towards becoming an empire.

Factors Contributing to Wealth

• Laissez-faire Policies: Minimal government intervention and regulation of business practices.
• Underpaid Labor: Reliance on immigrants, women, and children who were paid very little with no government regulation.
• Social Darwinism: Justification of wealth concentration based on the idea of "survival of the fittest".

Mitigation and Legacy

• Gospel of Wealth: Carnegie's belief that the wealthy should invest back into society through philanthropy.
  • Carnegie donated 350,000,000 to build libraries, concert halls, and universities.
• Figures like Rockefeller and Carnegie are referred to as either "captains of industry" or "robber barons", depending on one's perspective of their contributions.