How Did Andrew Carnegie's Impact On American Society

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,

During the Gilded Age, the United States saw an increase in the power of big businesses, many of which monopolized their industries. This time period, although it appeared successful from the outside, was filled with governmental corruption. Manipulated by the robber barons of the Gilded Age, the United States government fell victim to their control. Contrary to this downfall, the nation celebrated much success in the numerous life-changing inventions attributed to this era. With the invention of the internal combustion engine, among others, there also came a major increase in the demand for oil. Entering the flourishing oil business in 1870, John D. Rockefeller created the Standard Oil Company, which later dominated the entire oil industry. Although he had years filled with success in the business, Rockefeller faced a disastrous court case that dissolved his company and years of his hard work. Despite this catastrophic event, Rockefeller found other ways to contribute his knowledge and hard-work by making innumerable philanthropic donations. After many years and countless efforts, John D. Rockefeller had one of the most outstanding and positive influences on the United States through his work in the oil industry and his philanthropic actions.

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.

This investigation will assess whether the industrial leaders, such as, Andrew Carnegie, John Pierpont Morgan and John Davison Rockefeller were perceived as captains of industry or robber barons. In order to evaluate this claim, the investigation will analyze their major contributions to American Society; how they treated their workers in the factory; and why people questioned their honesty because of the techniques they used to eliminate their competitors. Mostly secondary sources were used, as well as some primary sources. Two of the sources used in this essay are The Robber Barons: The Great American Capitalists by Matthew Josephson and Wisdom from the Robber Barons: Enduring Business Lessons from Rockefeller, Morgan, and the First Industrialists by George D. Smith which will be evaluated for their origins, purposes, values, and limitations.

     True, Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller may have been the most influential businessmen of the 19th century, but was the way they conducted business proper? To fully answer this question, we must look at the following: First understand how Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller changed the market of their industries. Second, look at the similarities and differences in how both men achieved domination. Third and lastly, Look at how both men treated their workers and customers in order achieve the most possible profit for their company.

In the late 1800’s America’s industry was on the rise, in this completely new era many factories were born and introduced to the American people. Many people also had to help build railways as well as many other ways to help transport or make goods, this would help build industrial America. But many people would face crucial conditions working in factory, it was unsafe for many people, even some young children who had to work faced a lot of injuries. Not only this, but many people would be out of work because the factories were taking over the work force. One of the most successful people in this time period was John D. Rockefeller, he owned 90% of refineries in America, he made his living by selling, transporting, and refining oil.

Carnegie not only got his start as a young Irish immigrant working as a railroad telegraph operator, his first major corporation was the Keystone Telegraph Company, in which he acquired the Pacific and Atlantic Telegraph Company. Carnegie thought of giving up on business after having moderate success, but on a trip to England in 1872, he met with Henry Bessemer and saw his plans for steel. (Carnegie

Throughout the late 19th century and early 20th century, Andrew Carnegie became a large part of the economic society. At the time business and industrialism were flourishing. A few men lead and controlled this era in the United States. These specific men brought businesses into factories and helped bring specialized products to mass production. One of the most famous men, Andrew Carnegie, revolutionized the building industry with mass-producing steel.

The entrepreneur that best embodies the entrepreneurial spirit in America during the Gilded Age is Andrew Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie was the leader of the steel industry during the Gilded Age, officially forming Carnegie Steel Company in 1892. He was a high-risk, high-reward businessman, who calculated his risks and executed them properly; he was prepared to put his entire career on the line to revolutionize the production of steel forever. He continued to think of ways to change the industry throughout his entire career, exemplifying his passion and ambition. On top of this, Carnegie showed great competition among his rivals; most notably with John D. Rockefeller, the owner of the oil monopoly, Standard Oil. Often times, Carnegie would simply

Andrew Carnegie was a famous steel company owner who lived from 1835 to 1919. He was born in Scotland but came to the United States with his family when he was 12. He had very similar achievements to Richard Arkwright, who owned cotton mills and cotton processing patents in England in the 1700s. Both Andrew Carnegie and Richard Arkwright are remembered as powerful industrialists who built great capitalist fortunes by starting and growing large dominant companies. Richard Arkwright and Andrew Carnegie both had similar career paths and significant impacts on the Industrial Revolutions of their time because of their innovative use of new technologies and their ability to lead others.

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish immigrant who became the wealthiest man in the world during the “Gilded Age”. Carnegie and his family came to America when he was 13 years old. He began working in a series of jobs from working in a factory, to being a telegraph messenger and then finally the railroad systems, starting at the bottom and working his way up to superintendent. He was self-educated utilizing only the libraries that were open to children and very industrious. Young Carnegie used his money to make lots of shrewd investments especially in oil, to which he did quite well.

Andrew Carnegie is a robber baron and that means he will do whatever is necessary to be on top. He was born November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline United Kingdom. when he was 16 he had a friend in scotland and they wrote letter to each other. Carnegie wrote to him a lot about different things. They discuss how their two countries were so different in the way that it handles different issues. at that time he was so good at writing letters that he wrote for the newspaper. When Carnegie was younger he had to

In the 19th century, industrial capitalism began to gain more power in the form of monopolies. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust was one of these monopolies. His company destroyed smaller and weaker oil companies to become a larger corporation.

Rockefeller and H.C Frick it was quite a bit easier to gain even more money from workers than it is today. Due to government regulations such as high tariffs on imported steel, meaning steel from other countries prices would be raised, making American made steel more profitable than it already was, making Carnegie an even wealthier man. Many steel companies capitalized on this opportunity by increasing their own product’s prices higher relative to that of imported steel, making it seem less expensive than it really was, exploiting workers, citizens, and other companies, like bridge makers, who needed steel to operate, out of their hard earned money. I strongly believe that this could have lead to American Steel forming monopolies on other types of businesses, such a bridges There was also a lack of living wage laws, so no federal or state minimum wage was recognized. The U.S government did not even stop Carnegie’s American Steel from hiring over 300 armed members of the Pinkerton detective agency, eccentionally , Carnegie’s own army. If this event was stopped, the 1892 Homestead strike could have been avoided, the government may have demanded higher pay for workers. This accumulation of wealth with the aid of the U.S government, only lead to worse working conditions, and higher rates of philanthropy using workers pay, what little of it they have

Rockefeller went to great lengths to strengthen his business and its efficiency. A year later Rockefeller convinced his brother to establish a partnership and a new refinery in Cleveland. This was the establishment of the well-known Standard Oil Company. There was a branch in New York which William was in charge of that took care of exporting the oil. In 1867 the brothers added another man into their company. Henry M. Flagler was an oil barrel manufacturer. John and Henry had met before while Flagler was a grain merchant. They were both driven for power and expansion. Rockefeller, Andrews, & Flagler was created and with the help of a silent partner, Stephen V. Harkness, both John and Henry’s determination Standard Oil soon became the largest oil refinery in the world. The two businessmen both believed that the best way to rake in profits on a regular basis was to first to expand the business as much as they could and then to also use all of their materials efficiently. Standard Oil became a monopoly in the oil industry by buying out the Cleveland refineries and refineries in New York, Philadelphia and the surrounding area. As well as buying the companies needed to “fuel” the refineries, back to the vertical integration but on a larger scale. This led to the first great trust. January of 1882 the Standard Oil Trust was