The robber barons: a name given to a very small but very elite group of men who lived during the period of American reconstruction, up until the early decades of the 20th century. These men unleashed an assault on what was at that time an extremely vulnerable and malleable American economy, having just survived the civil war, and they fortified themselves with immense wealth and power. In the process, these men revolutionized America from the agrarian mercantile democracy that it was, into the capitalistic system that it became. Many historians have argued nevertheless, that these men were ruthless immoral crooks who took advantage of a weak American economy in selfish pursuit, used their immense fortunes to buy themselves political power, and are so aptly named after the feudal barons of old: They robbed, pillaged, and victimized all who got in their way. Yet in their defense, many feel...