Was Andrew Carnegie A Hero

Andrew Carnegie, a tightfisted employer among many, but a good-hearted philanthropist among many more; however, does this really explain if he was or was not a hero? Andrew Carnegie was a scottish immigrant born in November 1835 who grew up in a poor and hard life, whose family made the tough decision to the Americas in 1848, started working at age 12 to appease his family’s financial trouble. He worked harder and harder, deciphering dot-dot-dash messages by ear, setting train schedules and untangling train wrecks, and saving Union soldiers, and finally, as a result, rose to become one of America’s richest and most integral heroes. However, we should ask ourselves this: Was Andrew Carnegie truly a hero? Well, to answer that question we need to look at the definition of a hero. Hero, a word defined as a person who holds amazing courage, or a person who possesses strong integrity, or a person who boasts a vast amount of intelligence or wisdom. Going by this interpretation, we could state that Andrew Carnegie was a hero in the business area because of his strategic intelligence; in the social area because of his honest integrity; and in the economic area because of his courageous work and investments.

Many people at the time were living in poverty and there weren’t enough jobs that had sufficient pay to support a family. The steel industry was one that had the highest earning wages. The average daily wage at the time for iron and steel workers were $1.87, this is far above other industries that had a smaller amount of pay. Others can argue that because of the bad working conditions workers faced in the steel industries, Carnegie shouldn’t be considered a hero. But isn’t the goal of a business to create more jobs? Carnegie believed that it was proper to have completion between the rich and the poor because if there wasn’t, there would be no individuals capable enough to provide such jobs to further expand the essential needs of laborer and those of the economy (Doc 3). When Carnegie sold the Carnegie Steel company to J.P Morgan for $400 Million, the newly named company (U.S Steel) created numerous amounts of jobs employing 168,000 people.

Andrew Carnegie, originally from Scotland, took advantage of the time and created a vertically integrated steel company. Being a vertically integrated company meant he controlled every phase of business from the raw materials to transportation, manufacturing, and distribution of steel. He was a dictator in his company and his factories operated non-stop everyday except for the fourth of July. He believed that the rich had a moral obligation to advance society and he distributed a lot of his money to philanthropies like the creation of public libraries in towns throughout the country. He was seen as a captain of the industry and inspired Americans to become industrial leaders. He was also seen as a “robber baron” because of his dictatorial attitudes, repressive labor, and domination of power and

Andrew Carnegie is known for being a Captain of Industry who served their country greatly. Carnegie got this title since he ended up one of the richest men on the planet. One motivation behind why Carnegie is viewed as a Captain of Industry is on the grounds that he helped deliver steel in a more proficient manner. Another motivation behind why Carnegie is a Captain of Industry is on account of without him we would not have libraries that are interested in each race, culture, and religion. Carnegie is likewise viewed as a Captain of Industry in light of the fact that despite the fact that he gave all his cash away at last, Carnegie was considered as one of the most powerful person in the United States. Despite the fact that Carnegie is known for being a Captain of Industry, he is also known for being a Robber Baron. Carnegie is a viewed as a Robber Baron since he had his specialists work in his factories which have poor and dangerous working conditions. Carnegie is additionally a Robber Baron in the fact that as he succeeded and moved toward becoming the most richest men in the world. The last thing behind why Carnegie is a Robber Baron is because of when his specialists got up from working for essentially no compensation and went on strike which he chose to have one of his head representatives stop the strike to get Carnegie laborers to work for him once more. To finish up Carnegie changed the world with his innovation of steel and he changed history due to his great innovations and

It is illustrated in document 1 that he started from being super poor to being a millionaire over the course of about 30 years. This shows how hard Carnegie had worked during those years. (Doc 1) Another illustration of Carnegie’s achievement is a graph by an artist named, Robert Nedronida. The graph depicts a map of all the properties that Carnegie purchased with description of each of every one of them. This demonstrates Carnegie as a hero because all the companies he owned serves a purpose of helping people utilize sources that we use today. For instance, one of his companies called Carnegie’s Oliver Iron Mining Co. has influenced how we use oil to pave the roads, to make things, and to heat our homes. In addition, he gave people jobs and opportunities by owning all these companies. (Doc

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 is considered to be the richest person ever. Carnegie is known for his steel business that he developed on and became one of the last steel business by buying and taking out his competition. Carnegie is said to be a very generous man by donating to education and charities. The questionable thing about Carnegie is if he is a hero? Many people see him as helpful, and nice, but others see him two faced, selfish, and hypocritical.

Andrew Carnegie was an extremely wealthy man since his invention of steel was extremely revolutionary. But his earnings weren't always spent for the greater good. Carnegie used his fortune to get out of the conflict. The background essay states that “Carnegie received a draft notice from the Union army. Carnegie followed the practice of many wealthy Northern draftees and hired a Pittsburgh draft agent to find a replacement. For only $850 he paid his way out of doing service.” If Andrew Carnegie was a true hero he would be honored to fight for our

He sold the company to J. P. Morgan, for which he personally received $250 million of the $492 million Morgan paid for it. He supported and began many corporations and institutions. Many positive establishments were created only because of his generous donations. To this day many people are still benefiting from the large Carnegie fortune.

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,

Without Carnegie, the steel industry, and the second industrial revolution in general, would never have progressed as much as it did. Carnegie did what was necessary to make the steel industry more productive and more efficient, for less money. He was a shrewd, ruthless, businessman who’s aggressiveness made the steel, railroad, and oil industries so economically successful. These characteristics, though not always looked upon as nice or sympathetic, were sometimes necessary. He had paid his time as a poor factory boy, and now it was his turn to live comfortably and aid others less fortunate to work towards the same success.

The “rags to riches” story is a term of reverence respecting the few in society who sacrificed the little they had and emerged successful. These doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and other professionals inspire people of all socioeconomic levels by transforming nothing into something. Jay-Z, George Soros, Steve Jobs – these are names culture holds with great respect. One “rags to riches” story not many Americans have heard of pushes the limits of mental capacity. This man followed the poor-to-rich path and succeeded to such high degree that he, in turn, defined the very essence of this characteristic. Once a poor boy, Andrew Carnegie transformed the limited resources available to him into tools that aided his journey in becoming one of the richest, most successful men in all of history. Carnegie began his journey as an immigrant to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from Scotland. His family sought work, as their former weaving business had been destroyed by the Industrial Revolution (“Andrew Carnegie” American Experience). This experience as a poor worker created the drive that led him to become one of the wealthiest men of all time through his massive steel company, the Carnegie Steel Company. In conjunction with his economic success, the tycoon used the fruits of his leadership in the steel industry to become the “father of American philanthropy” (“Meet Andrew Carnegie”). As accomplished the man became, the

Was Andrew Carnegie a Hero? Andrew Carnegie was known as one of Americas best business men and industrialist. Some could argue that Carnegie was either a hero or a villain. The legacy of Andrew Carnegie proves that he was a hero due to the plethora amounts of money he donated and daring yet intelligent business choices (Doc. 9+5).

Imagine having all the money you want and still having a ton left over. Andrew Carnegie was a poor boy who ended up becoming the richest man in america during 1901. He worked himself up in the Pennsylvania Railroad company and would have been successful there but he was unclear on what he wanted to do. So he decided to move to New York City where he met Henry Bessemer. Bessemer taught him how to make steel, so then Carnegie moved back to Pittsburg and set up a steel mill. There he became a steel king and it caused him to become extremely wealthy. A hero is someone who has courage, integrity, and a concern for others. There were three reasons Andrew Carnegie was not a hero and they are he was a hypocrite, did not care about others, and caused others to lose self respect.

In 1892, Frick realized there was no centralized management for the company and decided to combine everything to form the Carnegie Steel Company. It was worth $25 million and was the largest steel company in the world. Frick became greedy and wanted to increase profits, so he lowered employee wages. Workers began to strike, so Frick hired 300 strikebreakers to resolve the situation. There was a battle that lasted a day and 60 men were wounded.