Andrew Carnegie on the Gospel of Wealth

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,

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

17). That the rich were mere trustees of their wealth, and the poor trusted them to use it in a beneficial way (“Celebrating Andrew Carnegie”). Like improving living conditions, building more homes, and improving sanitation in factories and buildings. Carnegie also explains how a wealth man can’t leave his wealth without gaining a distaste in peoples mouth that may not have been there before. To the common man, the wealth seemed like people of got it easy and didn't have any hardships in their lives, but Carnegie explains that wealth wasn't such a breeze, but a burden for

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) is a prime example of the phrase, from rags to riches. During his early and teenage years, Carnegie went through poverty. After coming up with crafty investments and going through various jobs, he rose to great prosperity. Because he has experienced poverty and knows that it is a well-known problem, “Carnegie sought to use philanthropy to provide opportunities for individuals to help themselves.” Unlike Carnegie, William Graham Sumner (1840-1910), an influential professor at Yale University, believed that those who were rich deserve to be rich and those who were poor deserved to be poor. He was in favor of economic inequality and believed that helping those who are less fortunate would bring down the society. This paper examines the differences between Andrew Carnegie and William Graham Sumner’s point of view on the issue of rich and poor and whether the two classes should coexist or remain unequal.

Andrew Carnegie’s rhetoric in the “Gospel of Wealth,” challenged the economic disparities in the United States during the late 1800s by proposing a radical shift in the distribution of wealth as a solution to social improvement without understanding that poverty was not a personality deficit rather the result of oppression. Carnegie exemplified his philosophy and achieved the American Dream, yet he neglected that he was the exception to the rule, not the rule in itself. The “Gospel of Wealth” had too many assumptions, both with merit and not, when proposing how the distribution of wealth could alleviate economic hardships to the impoverished population without understanding the complexities of the working class.

Carnegie came from humble beginnings, but through his extraordinary vision he would become the richest man on the planet and would display idealized influence and inspirational motivation through his philanthropic endeavors, inspiring the nation’s richest to give to charities through the use of foundations. Carnegie was born in Scotland and moved to U.S with his family in 1848 when he was 12 years old. His father attempted to start a weaving business in America, but failed, leaving Carnegie to work in a mill for $1.20 a week (Goldin, 1988, p. 13). Carnegie would go to on to build a fortune worth almost $450 million by making investments and building a technologically advanced steel making process at a time when the U.S was using steel

Andrew Carnegie believed that men, who were wealthy, were obligated to give back to the people for, the greater good. This belief was later better known as the “Gospel of Wealth”. Andrew Carnegie’s views on wealth and of social status are alike to John McDowell’s is that they both worked really hard to get to the spot they deserved, Carnegie immigrated at age thirteen from Scotland and worked his way up by developing the telegram system during the civil, there collecting his first million then dominated the steel industry; prospering his enterprise, which lead him to be the second richest man after Rockafeller.

I agree with the points Andrew made in this argument, because instead of the money going to the family of the wealthy, just so their family name can live on; or the government who give their possessions to anyone, the money should go to the public. In this quote Andrew says that if a person is willing to wait until he dies to make a change in the world, his wealth could be used to benefit the general public. An example of this is when after a wealthy person dies, the public build schools, hospitals, and even libraries with their money to benefit the public. An example of this is of a 92 year old gas station employee that passed away, when he passed away, he donated six million dollars to a library and hospital. This man was able to wait until after he died to make a difference in the people around him. Even though many people don’t want to wait until they die to make a change, the few that can, make big impacts in the community around them. Andrew said that this is where the wealth's money should go to after they pass away, no to their families, so that their name can live on for generations to come. Andrew believes that the extra money the rich have when they pass away should go to the community, where they can build

Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835, in Dunfermline, Scotland. He was raised here with little education, however Carnegie grew up in a family that believed in the importance of books and education. He lived there until he was about thirteen years old, then moved to the United States. His family settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, a major industrial city of that time. He began his job career in the United States by working a series of factory jobs. It was then that he learned how factories worked and operated at their fullest potential. He advanced far into this business, even going into the railroad manufacturing. It was at this steady job that he was able to acquire enough money to make investments. These investments eventually paid off and gave him his first small fortune. In 1889 he was able to build and own his own business, Carnegie Steel Corporation. This steel company became the largest steel company in the world. His company was able to become so successful because of the new process the design to extract and make stell. The “start to finish strategy” made his company the most dominant steel company, being able to produce steel fast and, without competition. In 1901 he was able to sell his company for about $400 million dollars. This set Carnegie with a fortune that would allow him to be set the rest of his life. With the abundance of wealth that he had,

Andrew Carnegie is Scottish born immigrant who moved to America when he was 13 with his family. He and his family landed and settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Carnegie starts working at a factory and earns $1.20 a week. A year later he was able to find a job as a telegraph messenger. He was then in 1851 promoted to telegraph operator. In 1851, He starts working as the assistant/telegrapher for Thomas Scott. Thomas Scott is one of the highest officials on the Pennsylvania railroad. Through 3 years of being the assistant and telegrapher to Thomas Scott, he earns valuable lessons and experience about and on the railroad. He then took the position of being a superintendent. When Carnegie is working for and on the railroad,

The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie was written in 1889. In Carnegie’s article, he initially discusses how wealth plays a role in the ties of the rich and the poor. He says that they live in a world where money was either passed down from father to son or given to the state. Carnegie’s ideas at the time were considered new. In his point of view, wealth can be put into better use by society than the state. He further expresses his idea that the rich should undertake in the concern for human welfare and advancement. Carnegie also emphasizes his contempt for the idea of spending capital with lack of responsibility. The wealthy should distribute their wealth that doesn’t encourage anything similar to sloth or drunkenness.

Carnegie’s background really influenced him he came from a family that believe in learning and reading books despite Carnegie having no education. He came from the United Kingdom to the United states and he at the age of thirteen he worked at a factory job getting paid 1.20 a week. Carnegie had a rough time like many factories kids, but he slowly advanced jobs gradually. He went from

Andrew Carnegie's story, The Gospel of Wealth, captures the hardships and truth of being a wealthy man, especially if it is self-made wealth. Carnegie mentions how the wealth that these men have should be redistributed responsibility. By the redistribution of wealth, this would close the inequalities of the haves and the have-nots, but could also employ working-class men. The argument is in favor of being responsible with money and recirculating it into the United States economy as opposed to, spending money on excess and unnecessary items as well as, not just passing money to heirs. The surplus of wealth is best used when recirculated into the United States economy. This is portraying the

“The Gospel of Wealth” was written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889. Carnegie used the essay to “argue that individual capitalists were duty bound to play a broader cultural and social role and thus improve the world,” though there were those that disagreed with him, writing their own share of essays in response and creating a lively debate (History Matters 1). Carnegie, unlike his peers, believed that it was the responsibility of the newly formed upper class, consisting of those who had made their own fortunes, to engage in acts of philanthropy. He believed that the best way to deal with the wealth inequality that resulted from their creation of their own fortunes was to redistribute their wealth in a manner that was not only responsible, but beneficial to all.

Andrew Carnegie is without a doubt one of the most famous rags-to-riches stories. He came to America from Scotland at 12 years old in 1448. His family immigrated to avoid poverty. When he matured, Carnegie took on a railroad assistant job and in doing this, became essential to the railroad business. Eventually, he was able to construct and build his own steel company named Carnegie Steel Corporation.