Robin Hood and Robber Barons

The gangsters' origins in industrial America can be found in the actions and attitudes of men like Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jim Fisk, Jay Gould, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and J.P.Morgan---the captain of capital who dominated America's age of enterprise.The Robber Barons, the richest and most powerful men in America, were so named by journalist E.L. Godkin because they behaved like the feudal German noblemen who extorted money from passersby and acted as a law unto themselves.


For a robber baron, as for a gangster, the first step was to organize and centralize the corporation. A climate of secret prevailed. At the same time, Robber Barons who controlled corporations felt no responsibility to the stockholders, whom they regarded as pawns in their financial maneuverings. Robber Barons meant to keep their employees in line by using armed thugs, and like movie gangsters, they would kill when their property was threatened. The Robber Barons saw nothing unusual or extreme in eliminating competition by any means necessary. They despised laws and used politicians as a club for beating down rivals and organized workers.

Robber barons is a pejorative term used to describe businessmen who acquire wealth by questionable means.


This term was used first by Mathew Johnsephson in Depression, but later Allan Nevins claims that though tycoons like Rockefeller may have engaged in some illicit business practices, this should overshadow his bringing order to industrial chaos of the day. The debate about the morality of big businessman was seen useless by Alfred Chandler, who contended that industrializing America was a historical process and not a play of good verses evil..