A man of Scotland, a distinguished citizen of the United States, and a philanthropist devoted to the betterment of the world around him, Andrew Carnegie became famous at the turn of the twentieth century and became a real life rags to riches story.
Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, on November 25, 1835, Andrew Carnegie entered the world in poverty. The son of a hand weaver, Carnegie received his only formal education during the short time between his birth and his move to the United States. When steam machinery for weaving came into use, Carnegie’s father sold his looms and household goods, sailing to America with his wife and two sons. At this time, Andrew was twelve, and his brother, Thomas, was five. Arriving into New York on August
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After retiring, Carnegie’s fortune was estimated to be as large as half a billion dollars. From that time on, with the philosophy that the rich have a moral obligation to give away their money, he devoted himself to philanthropy. Although ironic, this man of great fortune strongly believed in the merits of poverty for the development of character and work ethic, and determined that wealthy men should not leave their fortunes to their children, but should give it away, claiming "The man who dies thus rich, dies disgraced." The picture of community service, Carnegie is quoted as saying, "Pittsburgh entered the core of my heart when I was a boy, and cannot be torn out. I can never be one hair’s breadth less loyal to her, or less anxious to help her in any way, than I have been since I could help anything. My treasure is still with you, and how best to serve Pittsburgh is the question which occurs to me almost every day of my life."
Colonel James Anderson, who Carnegie believes to be his childhood benefactor, established a public library in his hometown of Allegheny City. This library was the first opportunity for Carnegie to take advantage of free information, and he developed a vast interest for knowledge, checking out at least one book a week, and developing himself as a young boy. With Colonel Anderson’s generous contribution to his society molding Carnegie’s
His crafty yet cunning skills in how to make more, using less helped skyrocket Carnegie's steel business (Doc. 4). After all the long, tedious years of building an empire, Carnegie generously donated a large amount of money to the public (doc. 9). He helped fund schools, colleges, libraries, and other public organizations (doc. 9). This selfless act proves that Carnegie had good intentions in helping his community.
Andrew Carnegie was one of the wealthiest men in America but his wealth didn’t come without hard work and dedication. Carnegie was born in “Dunfermline, Scotland on November 25, 1835” (Tyle). According to Laura B. Tyle, the invention of the weaving machine unfortunately pushed Carnegie’s family in to poverty “In 1848, Carnegie’s family left Scotland and moved to Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, where his father and eventually him worked in a cotton factory” (Tyle). After leaving the cotton factory “Carnegie became a messenger boy for the Pittsburgh telegraph office and eventually made his way up to telegraph operator” (Tyle). According to Laura B. Tyle “Thomas A. Scott, the superintendent of the western division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, made Carnegie his secretary at the age of eighteen.” Later, Carnegie took over Scott’s position of the railroad. Furthermore Carnegie “began to see that steel was going to replace iron and by 1873 he organized a steel rail company” (Tyle). According to Laura B. Tyle he continued to build his company when he “cut prices, drove out competitors,
Andrew Carnegie, the “King of Steel”, the benevolent employer, the giant of industry, was among the greatest influences of the second industrial revolution. It is sometimes questioned whether Carnegie was the ruthless, sneaky steel tyrant some made him out to be, or the generous, benevolent education benefactor he appeared to be. I believe him to be a combination of both, but more so the great giant of industry.
Social classes have different standards of living. By properly administering wealth, Carnegie becomes the trustee of his poorer brethren’s funds. He believes the wealthy man, with his superior knowledge and experience in financial matters, is better suited to administer these funds. Carnegie says he would be “doing for them better than they would or could for themselves” (399). A wealthy person could buy a few acres of land, build a hospital, and create a hundred jobs in the hospital while creating affordable or free health care. The wealthy do not have to worry about how much it would cost if they were diagnosed with pneumonia. They simply take the diagnosis, pay for the treatment, and move on with their lives. A diagnosis of the same magnitude to a poor person could be life threatening. When Carnegie talks about
Finally, Carnegie should be considered a hero because of his philanthropy contributions and donations to society. Andrew Carnegie believed that the best way to spend your fortune was to devote it for the most beneficial results for the community by providing them what they could not do for themselves (Doc 8). Carnegie spent most of his life gaining immense amounts of money and becoming one of the richest men of the 19th century. Once he retired, he felt he needed to use his
One of the best-known philanthropists was the American industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who devoted the latter part of his life to giving away most of the huge fortune he had amassed in the steel industry. Following the principles laid down in his essay “Gospel of Wealth” , Carnegie returned over $300 million
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was a major American industrialist in the late 19th century and after obtaining substantial wealth from his steel industry, became an advocate for giving back to the less fortunate. Carnegie’s desire to donate to those less fortunate came from past experiences, growing up as an immigrant and working in a cotton factory young. He knew and understood the hardships that people faced when not able to acquire the type of wealth he rose to earn. Through his long life this atypical businessman advocated for many and dedicated the later years of his life to promoting the general welfare of the world.
Andrew Carnegie was born into poverty in Scotland and immigrated to the United States with his family for the prospect of a better life. Although, in the United States, his family still struggled to make ends meet until Carnegie was offered a job at a cotton mill as a bobbin boy, changing spools of thread for 12 hours a day, six days a week for $1.20 per week. He became the primary breadwinner of his family at the age of 12. After years of working
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.
Andrew Carnegie. Who was he? Was he just a robber baron or a captain of industry. Andrew was a self made Entrepreneur in the late 1800s. He was the owner of the Carnegie Steel Company which monopolized the steel industry. In 1889 he wrote the famous “Gospel of Wealth” which made the use of libraries to give to the worthy poor that were smart to use them. He also gave away 350 million dollars. On the other side Carnegie’s steel workers were treated poorly by long working hours and reduced wages. He also gave support to the plant manager Henry Frick who hired Pinkerton thugs to intimidate workers on strike and many were killed in the conflict. Andrew Carnegie was sometimes saw as a robber baron taking others money to give away not spending his own money On the other hand people saw him as a captain of industry giving to the worthy poor with libraries and millions of dollars.
Andrew Carnegie was not always a rich billionaire. In fact his early years were quite simple. According to document A, Carnegie lived in an attic of a modest home that was shared by another family, (Document A). Andrew Carnegie struggled, his families knew the struggles of not having enough income,and by the age of twelve Carnegie was required to employ in a job. According to an essay about Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Carnegie was “working six 12-hour days for $1.20 a week. A year later Andrew found a more challenging job delivering telegrams”, (Was Andrew a Hero ?). Andrew Carnegie had worked 12 hours just to earn his money ,as well as help his family which shows the character traits of perseverance and the sympathy that Carnegie acquired. The great steel master was really determined to make an effort on the world, and so Carnegie did. According to the same document about Carnegie’s early life, the document has stated that “He would adopt the Bessemer system and build a steel mill in America. So much for retirement!”, (Was Andrew a Hero ?). His risks and effort had helped him accomplish so much, He persevered and made himself successful,because he was willing to take the chance. This indeed proves how much of hero carnegie is, because heroes are willing to take costly risks.
Andrew Carnegie was an industrialist who led the expansion of the steel industry in America. He made his fortune in the steel industry, controlling the most iron and steel
Andrew Carnegie, born on November 25, 1835, was a Scottish philanthropist who was one of the richest men in America in the 1900 's. I completely agree with Carnegie 's opinion of how the rich should donate their money toward the good of mankind before they die, but disagree with his actions toward his workers . He started working in a cotton mill making $1.20 a week only to upgrade to $2.20 working as a messenger boy. He eventually taught himself telegraphy and worked as Thomas A. Scott 's assistant for $35 a month. He moved on to investing, with the help from his “mentor” Scott, in the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company and several small iron mills and factories. He was so successful that he was
Carnegie did not come from a wealthy family, he like other had to work his way up the class latter, Carnegie worked in a Pittsburgh cotton factory as a boy before rising to the position of division superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1859.” Carnegie initiated the first of the uses for steel in railroads. As a young man Andrew Carnegie had worked on railroads, so he knew that he could take advantage of his skills. The name of his company was called Carnegie Steel. His innovative ideas to make the use of steel helped create what we see now in the United States, “In a desire to make steel more cheaply and more efficiently, he successfully adopted the Bessemer process at his Homestead Steel Works plant.” Carnegie took a simple process and converted it into a renowned national industry. A system that helped Carnegie’s business success was due to Vertical Integration.Vertical Integration is the taking over of all the different businesses’ suppliers so that a company would only rely on this for its main function, he took in many other companies so that his wealth could grow. However, even Carnegie knew that he had to give back money. Now as a philanthropist, Carnegie donated over the course of his lifetime about three
The True Gospel of Wealth, an article written by one of the richest, most powerful men of the 19th century, is a guide to a nation virgin to mass amounts of wealth, and power. Carnegie is a self made millionaire, who immigrated to the United States with less than a dollar in his pocket. This fact would serve important in Carnegies epic rise to fortune, also in developing such philosophical understandings as, The True Gospel of Wealth.