JP Morgan

JP MorganDavid Casey

Growing Up John Pierpont Morgan was born on April

17th, 1837 in Hartford, Connecticut to Juliet and Junius Morgan.

JP Morgan was born into an already fairly wealthy family. His father was a financier who helped found

a very prosperous dry goods exporting company

He was sent to study in Switzerland’s University of Gottingen at the age of sixteen.

Starting Career Much of JP Morgan’s initial jobs were influenced by

his father’s reputable standing as a financier.

Morgan’s first job was at the brokerage house, Duncan, Sherman & Company. He worked without pay, still supported by the weatlh

of his father.

His father’s influenced continued to help him expand his own partnership into other investment banks. These included: George Peabody & Company; Dabney,

Morgan & Company; and Drexel, Morgan & Company.

Railroads One of his wealthiest forays in investment

banking was the trading of stocks in railroads.

He began to sell stocks in railroads to European investors, meanwhile, reorganizing railroad companies themselves to benefit his investors.

He believed that competition among companies led to financial waste.

He promoted railroad companies buying up other companies in the area to increase profit.

Corporatism This idea with encouraging monopolies among railroads

expanded to every other business he had invested in.

When he saw that consolidating railroads produced such a large profit, he decided to try it next with the ideas of inventor Thomas Edison.

He was able to create a monopoly on the electricity sector through the creation of General Electric.

He continued merging in almost every business sector. His finest example of this was the creation of US Steel, the first billion-dollar corporation.

Debts JP Morgan is well known for his saving of the United States

Government. He helped to pay off foreign debt America had accumulated

during the Civil war. He organized a massive deposit of gold into the US Treasury. He helped to prevent the Bank Panic of 1907 by giving loans to

banks to keep people from withdrawing their deposits.

However, he is less well known for his funding on a global level.

He was the first American to give a loan to a foreign nation. He took on the entire debt of Mexico; he also bought millions of

dollars of war bonds from Great Britain.

Robber Baron? Most of the ways in which Morgan accumulated his money could easily

be seen as corrupt.

His stance on corporations was quintessential robber baronism. He formed monopolies in every part of the American economy from

railroads to electricity.

His bailing out of the American economy seems like it should be a good act. However, he was very despised for this act due to the fact he directly

profited from it.

The following quote spoken by Morgan, summarizes his views quite well:

“A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason.

Contemporary Criticisms

This political cartoon is a comment on the way many Americans felt about JP Morgan. This image specifically discusses Morgan’s bailing out of the US Treasury. Morgan is seenas piloting the ship of America through economic waters. The central, and largest, object of this picture is JP Morgan himself. However, this is a negative connotation when Morgan is overshadowing and looking down on America (Uncle Sam).

Works Cited Baker, Martin. "The original Fat Cat and robber baron of his time ."

The Telegraph 25 Oct 2003, Web. 3 Feb. 2012.

Baker, Ray. "J PIERPONT MORGAN." McClure's Magazine. Oct 1901: 507-18. Web. 3 Feb. 2012.

Bowen, Liz. "J.P. Morgan: A BIOGRAPHY BY LIZ BOWEN." . Fordham University, 2010. Web. 3 Feb 2012.

"JP Morgan Biography: The most influential banker in history." Financial Inspiration Cafe. Financial-Inspiration.com, 2010. Web. 3 Feb 2012.

"J. P. Morgan." MSN encarta. 2009. Web. 3 Feb 2012. <http://www.webcitation.org/ 5kwrgiWB6>.

The Helping Hand. 1911. Library of Congress. Washington, D.C. www.loc.gov. Web. 3 Feb 2012.