A Man Who Knew Balance: A Rags-to Riches Tale

A Man Who Knew Balance

Of all the rags-to-riches tales in history, there are none that can compare to the likes of Andrew Carnegie’s. Although Carnegie was a man whose character fell somewhere between callous and benevolent, his abundant contributions to America are nothing short of remarkable. His journey is an exemplary display of the true opportunity that you are given in America regardless of the card you have been dealt. While his sheer wealth was very notable, his philanthropic influences are not to go unnoticed either. Andrew Carnegie was one of the first businessmen to promote public-spirited philosophies that simultaneously achieved individual profit and benefited the America as a whole.

Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland. He and his family moved in 1848 to Allegheny, Pennsylvania, a very poor city at the time, in search occupational opportunity. Carnegie’s family belonged to a part of the working class, often found borrowing money and accumulating debt to simply scrape by. Because of this, Carnegie started working early at the age of thirteen as a bobbin boy, making a mere salary of $1.20 a week for 60 hours of work. Later on, he made his way into the Ohio Telegraph Company working as secretary. By the time the impressionable and precocious Andrew Carnegie was eighteen, he was working in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for a man named Thomas Scott. Under Scott, Carnegie quickly picked up the concepts of management, cost control, and investing (Nasaw 1).

Although most success stories are seen through qualities of diligence and perseverance, luck will always continue to play its part—and Andrew Carnegie had just that. The railroad industry was ripe for an economic upturn in Amer...

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Conant, J. B. "Andrew Carnegie, Patron Of Learning." Science 82.2139 (1935): 599-603. Print.

This is an article provided a great deal of information regarding the Carnegie Library, with a lesser emphasis on his other works as well.

NICKLISS, ALEXANDRA M. "Phoebe Apperson Hearst’s “Gospel of Wealth,” 1883 –1901." Pacific Historical Review 4th ser. Volume 71 (2002): 575-605. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.

This article was predominantly about Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth” philosophy; the rich were obligated to give to the poor.

Patterson, David S. "Andrew Carnegie's Quest for World Peace." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 114.5 (1970): 371-83. JSTOR. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

This article provided a great deal of information about what Carnegie contributed to learning and how he did so. This included the Carnegie Library, Carnegie Mellon, etc.