Andrew Carnegie: Money And Power

In the “Gospel of wealth”, Andrew Carnegie argues that it is the duty of the wealthy entrepreneur who has amassed a great fortune during their lifetime, to give back to those less fortunate. Greed and selfishness may force some readers to see these arguments as preposterous; however, greed is a key ingredient in successful competition. It forces competitors to perform at a higher level than their peers in hopes of obtaining more money and individual wealth. A capitalist society that allows this wealth to accumulate in the hands of the few might be beneficial to the human race because it could promote competition between companies; it might ensure health care for everyone no matter their social standing, and parks and recreation could

How did Andrew Carnegie’s views of the obligations of wealthy people compare with those of Henry George?

Andrew Carnegie can be looked at as a double edged sword. One edge of the blade would show Carnegie as an ideal example of a poor immigrant fighting his way up to become an incredibly successful business man who would one day give nearly all his fortune away to help society improve itself. The reverse edge of the blade would show Carnegie as a ruthless business man who would slash his workers pay, drive other businesses under and used corruption to become leader of the capitalist world. These viewpoints of Carnegie have changed as years pass. Early accounts of Carnegie depict him as the ruthless conqueror of the steel industry while other later works tend to show both sides of Carnegie with great emphasis on the fact that he was a great

Andrew Carnegie believes in a system based on principles and responsibility. The system is Individualism and when everyone strives towards the same goals the system is fair and prosperous. Carnegie’s essay is his attempt to show people a way to reach an accommodation between individualism and fairness. This system can only work if everyone knows and participates in his or her responsibilities. I will discuss Carnegie’s thesis, his arguments and the possible results of his goals.

The richest man in the world, in his time, was Andrew Carnegie. His story of success was truly one of rags to riches. After coming to the U.S. from Scotland as part of a working-class family, he moved from job to job, eventually becoming more influential and gaining a large sum of money. Soon he was using his wealth to contribute to many public services, such as libraries and schools. Andrew Carnegie's life and actions have left a long-standing legacy and have contributed greatly to the American way of life, particularly toward education.

The Gilded Age of America was a time of rich businessmen, and poor immigrants. Cigars rolled in one hundred dollar bills, food picked up off the street. These ideas would only be emphasised as the “big business” would be introduced to America. The CEOS that let their businesses would ultimately be either praised for their contributions to society, or hated for their greed. Men such as Rockefeller, JP Morgan, and Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie was the first man to ever mass produce steel. Steel would help to fuel the industrialization of America. Not to mention that his constant philanthropic efforts, in where he would donate over 350 million dollars to libraries and schools to help educate the poor. However, his workers complained of extremely low wages. Based on the information in the mock trial and outside research, Andrew Carnegie should not be guilty of, reckless endangerment and greed; however, he can be charged guilty with the crime of hypocrisy. Carnegie should be considered as one of the most accomplished captains of industry.

“A good reputation is more valuable than money. ”(Publilius Syrus) Andrew Carnegie did not seem very worried about his reputation among his workers! Andrew Carnegie’s managers and Andrew Carnegie himself had horrible connections and relations with his workers. His workers’ conditions were ineffective and unreasonable.

The Second Industrial Revolution was a phase of rapid industrialization during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The economy thrived, as well as competition between businesses, and many of the world's greatest businessmen were born. Unheard of tactics were developed in all sorts of fields of business, including railroads, automobiles, banking, and oil. However, the field that made the most advancement must be the steel industry, led by Andrew Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie was the most influential person of the Second Industrial Revolution because he made steel readily available to American companies.

Looking at Andrew Carnegie`s early life is particularly important in order to understand the magnitude of his achievements. Andrew Carnegie was born in a small town in Scotland. His father, well known for his vast array of knowledge, was a weaver, the main industry in town. Carnegie`s comprehension of entrepreneurship began at an early age. His family could hardly afford to feed their rabbits, so Carnegie recruited other children in the town and would end up naming a rabbit after each child that helped proving the importance of personal investment in their work. After the invention of automated looms, the Carnegie’s lost everything and moved to Pittsburgh. Carnegie worked at a loom factory and soon after was offered a job to deliver messages by telegraph. Five short years after the family moved to Pittsburgh, Carnegie got a job at the Pennsylvania Railroad. Andrew Carnegie, overworked and exhausted because of his involvement in rebuilding telegraph lines and railroad tracks during the Civil War, began his investing career as an entrepreneur after having a mild stroke. He saw the

Andrew Carnegie, born November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland, was the owner of Carnegie Steel Corporation; one of the biggest of its kind in the world. Carnegie moved to the United States at the age of twelve with his parents after his father, a handloom weaver, was gradually replaced with power looms. Carnegie was from a poor family and could not afford an education, but he always had access to books and through reading was able to educate himself, at least a little. Once in America he worked in one of the many factories in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, making $1.20 a week. After that he managed to find a job as a telegraph messenger. He taught himself how to send the telegraph messages and eventually became a telegraph operator at the age of seventeen. Through his life he learned two different things from his parents. His father believed in helping the less fortunate, from his mother he learned to put himself before anyone else.

Andrew Carnegie’s gifting the means for better education to the public started advancing American society. The libraries he funded helped the common man get educated, which in turn, helped society get more knowledgeable. The charitable trusts that he created sought to better many aspects in education. The institutes and colleges that he founded and granted money to were scientific research-based, which also helped to progress American society. Through Carnegie’s gifts of libraries, institutes and charities to the general public, American society started to improve.

Andre Carnegie was a poor immigrant who came to the United States in a quest for the realization of the American Dream. A self-started entrepreneur who through hard work and by taking advantage of the right opportunities was able to develop an enormous wealth, signifying with it, the definite possibility of social mobility. In his essay “Wealth” of 1989 Carnegie refers to the importance of the distribution of wealth and how such fortune was there to be used by the rich for the benefit and well-being of all individuals of society. Throughout this essay I will be explaining the arguments for the redistribution of wealth made by Carnegie, while analyzing as well the factors that may have motivated him to write his famous essay “Wealth.”

Carnegie was a wealthy man himself, but he practiced exactly what he preached. He notices how American society has revolutionized and created the divide between the rich and the poor as it changed. Carnegie compares the American past equality to the equality experienced among the Sioux Indians. Carnegie does not disapprove of the change, but recognizes it as “highly beneficial” (Foner 29). According to Carnegie, the evidence of the changing society is present in the “contrast between the palace of the millionaire and the cottage of the laborer” (Foner 29). Although Carnegie recognizes the divided between rich and poor, he does not see it as a bad thing, nor does he believe that people should stop obtaining wealth. Carnegie believes that the wealthy should use their money to provide for good instead of “hoarding great sums all their lives” (Foner 29). Carnegie approves of the implementation

Heroes come in all different shapes and sizes. Standing only 5’4”, Andrew Carnegie was a man of steel, but with a heart of gold. Carnegie grew up in poverty. He was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, living in the attic of his father’s weaver’s shop. At age 12, when his family would soon face severe poverty, Carnegie’s family immigrated from Scotland to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Carnegie grew from a poor, immigrant bobbin boy into a self-made, financially successful man with heroic traits; he was exceptionally intelligent, honorable, responsible, selfless, caring, and generous. In 1901, Andrew Carnegie sold his giant steel company for $480,000,000, and gained his share of $225,000,000, making him the richest man in America. Despite this poor immigrant striking it rich, his story is not that of the typical rags-to-riches tale. Although extremely prosperous, the philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie made him a hero for several reasons. Carnegie’s heroic qualities, coupled with his passion and aspiration to become successful, led him to become concerned with the greater good of society. The philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie made him a hero through the purchase and renovation of his home in Skibo, Scotland, his philosophy and morals, and the amount and quality of his distribution of money.

Andrew Carnegie came to America as a teenager. He first got a job at a factory and earned very little money, much like the average coal miner, with the exception that Carnegie succeeded in the economic aspects in life. As he moved up the ladder of success, he was fortunate to have a mentor to teach him everything he knows. He was soon very rich and powerful. This man knows the importance of hard work to get to where you want to be, but based on the miner’s perspective, it seems as if the boy was more hardworking than Carnegie. One of my friends once told me that the cause of my own suffering is from my incompetence, which is what basically Carnegie is trying to demonstrate.