Though Raymond never used the exact phrase “robber baron,” it entered the American lexicon as a term for an industrialist who wields his power unscrupulously, to the harm of others. Yet it is essential to note how the metaphor originated. Raymond criticized Vanderbilt for preying upon monopolists. He attacked him for, as he wrote elsewhere, “driving too sharp a competition.”100 In “Your Money or Your Line,” Raymond derided “competition for competition’s sake; competition which crowds out legitimate enterprises… or imposes tribute upon them.” On July 13, 1860, he called on “our mercantile
...more
Interesting. Vanderbilt profited more from taking down monopolies than from being one it seems like.
