The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and JP Morgan Invented the American Supercompany

470 Pages·2006·3.65 MB·English

by  Morris Charles R

Praise for The Tycoons
“Thorough and highly readable, Morris’ exemplary volume does a superb
job. . . . Gracefully and eloquently clarifies these men’s frequently
misunderstood roles in the shaping of modern U.S. commerce.”
—The Providence Journal
“Engaging and credible.”
—The Washington Post Book World
“Too often presented either as demigods or mythical beasts, [these men] are
returned to their proper stature as mere people by Charles Morris. . . . He also
paints rich, intriguing and at times, harrowing descriptions of the extraordinary
age of innovation in which they starred—the late 19th century, when the U.S.
came into its own.”
—Barron’s
“Morris writes with an uncommonly light touch, even on complex financial
matters, and his brisk summary of the achievements and chicaneries of his
tycoons makes for . . . a very rewarding evening.”
—Commonweal
“Morris may change your impression of these men—some for the better (Gould),
some for the worse (Morgan)—as he tells their stories against the backdrop of
America’s rise to power. . . . A forceful storyteller.”
—Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge
“Morris has a striking command of his material and his analysis is highlighted
time and again by vivid sketches and thought-provoking comparisons with
contemporary circumstances. Altogether, The Tycoons is a valuable contribution
to the presentation and interpretation of one of the most vital, yet all too often
romanticized periods of American economic growth.”
—Kenneth Warren, fellow emeritus, Jesus College,
Oxford University, and author of Big Steel
“A fascinating revisionist interpretation.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An excellent picture of the growth of American business that made the United
States an economic powerhouse.”
—Library Journal
THE TYCOONS
Also by Charles R. Morris
Money, Greed, and Risk
American Catholic
The AARP: America’s Most Powerful Lobby
and the Clash of Generations
Computer Wars (with Charles H. Ferguson)
The Coming Global Boom
Iron Destinies, Lost Opportunities:
The Postwar Arms Race
A Time of Passion: America, 1960–1980
The Cost of Good Intentions: New York City
and the Liberal Experiment, 1960–1975
THE TYCOONS
How Andrew Carnegie,
John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould,
and J. P. Morgan Invented
the American Supereconomy
CHARLES R. MORRIS
AN OWL BOOK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY • NEW YORK
Owl Books
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Publishers since 1866
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10010
www.henryholt.com
An Owl Book® and ® are registered trademarks of
Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Morris
All rights reserved.
Distributed in Canada by H. B. Fenn and Company Ltd.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morris, Charles R.
The tycoons : how Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan invented the
American supereconomy.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-8134-3
ISBN-10: 0-8050-8134-8
1. Industrial management—United States—History. 2. Industrialists— United States—Biography. 3.
Rockefeller, John D. (John Davison), 1839–1937.
4. Carnegie, Andrew, 1835–1919. 5. Gould, Jay, 1836–1892.
6. Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837–1913. I. Title.
HD70.U5M67 2005
338.092'273—dc22
2005041637
Henry Holt books are available for special promotions
and premiums. For details contact: Director, Special Markets.
Originally published in hardcover in 2005 by Times Books
First Owl Books Edition 2006
Designed by Victoria Hartman
Printed in the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
To Leo, for freely sharing his extensive
knowledge of railroad technology
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
1 Prelude
2 “. . . glorious Yankee Doodle”
3 Bandit Capitalism
4 Wrenchings
5 Mega-Machine
6 The First Mass Consumer Society
7 Paper Tigers
8 The Age of Morgan
9 America Rules
10 The Wrong Lessons
Appendix I: The Carnegie Company’s 1900 Earnings
Appendix II: Standard Oil Earnings
Notes
Index
Preface
T
here are no official league tables for “most powerful country,” but by about
1895 America had clearly outdistanced the pack. Few people recognized it at the
time. British officials were merely annoyed in 1899 when they realized that they
would have to finance their Boer War in America. Just a dozen or so years later,
however, the British were in a near panic at the possibility that America might
put its financial weight behind Germany.
America was not only the most populous of industrial countries but the richest
by any standard—per capita income, natural resource endowment, industrial
production, the value of its farmlands and factories. It dominated world markets
—not just in steel and oil but in wheat and cotton. It ran huge trade surpluses in
goods, and was gaining preeminence in financial services. Its people were the
most mobile, the most productive, the most inventive, and, on average, the best
educated. It did not have much to say for itself in literature and the arts, but that
time would come. Nor did it have the biggest army nor nearly the biggest navy,
but no thinking person doubted those deficiencies could be remedied with but a
few years’ attention.
Attentive European elites were shocked as they came to understand the scale
and speed of America’s ascendancy. Hardly three decades before, America was
still torn and bleeding from a savage civil war, making its living exporting raw
cotton, grain, and timber in exchange for Europe’s surplus manufactures. The
sustained American growth spurt was the fastest in history, at least until the
Pacific Rim countries made their run for daylight a century later.
The Tycoons is the story of that leap, told primarily through the lens of a
handful of extraordinary men who stood in the vanguard of the surge. But while
“Great Men” can dominate historical epochs, they are never the whole story. The
America of the tycoons really was different from all other countries. Their
stories are therefore interleaved with an account of the characteristics of
America, and its people, that made it such fertile ground for the transition.
Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and John Pierpont Morgan
were all in their late twenties or early thirties, all on the first rungs of their
careers, in the waning days of the Civil War. In an age of outsized business