Rockefeller set out to acquire control of the oil industry. One of the reasons he did this was to obtain knowledge. He wanted to know how oil went from the ground to the home and he also thought it was crucial for him to know this in order to be in control of the oil industry. Another reason was that he liked the competition. Oil was going to every civilized country, so there was a great deal of competition. He set out to acquire the control by perfecting refining and transportation. Then he would organize the areas he would sell to with divisions and then division within divisions who all reported to the division above until headquarters in New York were reached. So he would obtain control of the oil industry by refining, transporting, and organizing. The control would come when everyone who bought oil in the area was buying from him.
Rockefeller did not deserve to be called a "robber baron". He gained control of the oil industry, but to be a robber baron he would have had to do something unethical to obtain his wealth. Rockefeller did not do anything immoral. He simply learned how to control an industry. Refining, transportation, and organization are moral actions. According to the source, he did not have slaves working for him and he was not killing off his competition. The fact that eventually he had not competition mad it extremely hard for others in the business and they were probably poor after a while. This is not too immoral though. He did employ many people and if he could find a way to make a large amount of money it is not an awful thing. He did not deserve to be called a "robber baron".
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