Rockefeller & Standard Oil VIDEO LESSON: Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?

All of these resources go with this awesome History For Humans episode on Rockefeller, Standard Oil, and the Rise of Big Business!

This is a complete, everything you need, learning activity for distance learning and distance teaching! It starts with the youtube video-lecture above and comes with a follow-along interactive note sheet that could be completed digitally or with pen and paper. It also has a quick 7 question Google Form quiz to check for understanding. Lastly, it has an extension lesson that should take about 45 minutes.

Students read two secondary sources offering different arguments on whether industrialists like Carnegie and Rockefeller were "Robber Barons" or "Captains of Industry". Students complete a T-chart to gather and summarize the evidence and then are tasked with writing an 'op-ed' for a newspaper as if they were alive in 1880 arguing if Standard Oil should be broken up as an unfair trust or left to prosper. There are answer keys for everything!

The video is not just engaging but also teaches in a way to help struggling learners. It tells the story of how Rockefeller rose from poverty to become one of the most successful and ruthless businessmen to ever live. It covers the good, the bad, and the ugly, while also layering and actually teaching the history of how industrialization during the Gilded Age led to the rise of big businesses that largely took over the American economy. Please check out the video for your reference.

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