Robber Baron Document Rankings

Power Rank 1:  Document Number: 10

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?.
Document 10 best represents the era because it states the ideal result of the increase in industry and the actual result.  The document describes the ideal world of the wealth spreading and eliminating poverty and the world it created, which was one where the poor were worse off than before.

Power Rank 2:  Document Number: 9

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
Document 9 is an interview with William Vanderbilt in October 1882 and shows Vanderbilt discussing how little the public matter to him.  Therefore this document confirms the suspicion that robber barons, such as Vanderbilt, cared very little for the public and this shows the relationship because robber barons and the common people.

Power Rank 3:  Document Number: 7

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
Document 7, a government report on trusts and the combinations of industry, features a section about what trusts really did, according to Rockefeller.  This document shows the relationship between the government and robber barons, what they said (whether or not they meant it) actually ended up in government reports, proving that they had control of the government in the era.

Power Rank 4:  Document Number: 12

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
Document 12 was created in 1871 and states the ideas for reforming the economic system that existed at that time.  This represents the movements that were underway during the era and created unrest among the American people that would lead to new laws.

Power Rank 5:  Document Number: 16

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
Document 16 states the beliefs of many robber barons that allowed them to justify their actions.  Of course this theory was not popular among the poor, which just shows another difference between the two groups in that era.