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The '''Robber Baron''' image of leading American businessmen was a hostile stereotype created by anti-capitalist writers in the [[Progressive Era]] (1890-1920s) who denounced American big business as bad because it supposedly hurt workers, consumers and democracy.

The '''Robber Baron''' image of leading American businessmen was a hostile stereotype created by anti-capitalist writers in the [[Progressive Era]] (1890-1920s) who denounced American big business as bad because it supposedly hurt workers, consumers and democracy. The concept was widely popularized by Matthew Josephson's book ''The Robber Barons''.<ref>[https://fee.org/articles/how-the-myth-of-the-robber-barons-began-and-why-it-persists/ How the Myth of the 'Robber Barons' Began—and Why It Persists]</ref>

The "robber" theme meant the businessmen seized the wealth created by the workers—the assumption was that capital did not create wealth, only manual labor and farming did that.

The "robber" theme meant the businessmen seized the wealth created by the workers—the assumption was that capital did not create wealth, only manual labor and farming did that.

[[Business history]] scholars beginning in the 1920s and led by Professor [[Alan Nevins]] at Columbia University and later [[Alfred D. Chandler]] at Harvard, refuted the false "Robber Baron" image. The image occasionally appears in textbooks and, more often, in history lectures or editorials written from a leftist perspective.  The image is distinctly American—European and Asians rarely displayed it.

[[Business history]] scholars beginning in the 1920s and led by Professor [[Alan Nevins]] at Columbia University and later [[Alfred D. Chandler]] at Harvard, refuted the false "Robber Baron" image. The image occasionally appears in textbooks and, more often, in history lectures or editorials written from a leftist perspective.  The image is distinctly American—European and Asians rarely displayed it.

==See also==

==See also==

* [[John D. Rockefeller]]

* [[John D. Rockefeller]]

* [[Andrew Carnegie]]

* [[Andrew Carnegie]]

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

* Bridges, Hal. "The Robber Baron Concept in American History," ''Business History Review'', Vol. 32, No. 1 (Spring, 1958), pp.&nbsp;1–13 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3111897 in JSTOR]

* Bridges, Hal. "The Robber Baron Concept in American History," ''Business History Review'', Vol. 32, No. 1 (Spring, 1958), pp.&nbsp;1–13 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3111897 in JSTOR]

* Latham, Earl, ed. ''John D. Rockefeller: Robber Baron or Industrial Statesman?'' (1949), reprints debates among historians. [http://www.questia.com/read/73971734?title=John%20D.%20Rockefeller%3a%20Robber%20Baron%20or%20Industrial%20Statesman%3f online edition]

* Latham, Earl, ed. ''John D. Rockefeller: Robber Baron or Industrial Statesman?'' (1949), reprints debates among historians. [http://www.questia.com/read/73971734?title=John%20D.%20Rockefeller%3a%20Robber%20Baron%20or%20Industrial%20Statesman%3f online edition]

* Miller, William. "American Historians and the Business Elite," ''Journal of Economic History,'' Vol. 9, No. 2 (Nov., 1949), pp.&nbsp;184–208 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2113639 in JSTOR]

* Miller, William. "American Historians and the Business Elite," ''Journal of Economic History,'' Vol. 9, No. 2 (Nov., 1949), pp.&nbsp;184–208 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2113639 in JSTOR]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baron, Robber}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baron, Robber}}

[[Category:Economic History]]

[[Category:Economic History]]

[[Category:Business]]

[[Category:Business]]

[[Category:Historians]]

[[Category:Historians]]