Andrew Carnegie was one of the most influential and successful individuals of the late 1800s and early 1900s. He had an enormous impact among the middle and working class. His determination to achieve his dream of becoming a successful individual would pay off. To many Andrew Carnegie is known as the “Patron Saint of Libraries” for the numerous donations of libraries to various institutions and cities. Andrew Carnegie is most interesting to me because of the obstacles and situations he had to overcome in order to gain his vast fortune, which he valiantly gave away to various causes in order to improve the way of life for the disadvantaged as he was at a young age. Even though his parents were working individuals, they also came across a variety of conflicts throughout their lives from economical to political, to societal. Their ability to give Andrew Carnegie and his brother the encouragement to become someone was all that they needed. Throughout Andrew Carnegie’s life, he had experienced many things, those experiences shaped that who he became, a wealthy and kind philanthropist. He ...
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.
Andrew Carnegie and his philanthropy made him a hero because he helped more people than harm in the long run, by this I mean he helped other countries. He also sets a great example to everyone that helping others or someone is not something you need to wait to do when you are no longer living. If someone needed help and even a stable person had the choice to help but until they are no longer alive has little meaning. Perhaps it would be too late when the person isn’t around anymore. Its about what someone can do to help when they are around, it is about what a person can do in the time of need even if it is not much but a little of anything can go a long way. In (Doc C) there is a list of amounts of money that Carnegie has donated to various places which in total he has donated well over $271m but aside from that his corporation is giving out about $100m a year, most of it to education (Doc C)
The rags-to-riches story is always a classical and inspirational tale that tries to touch our hearts. These stories seeks to arouse the warm, intrinsic emotions that all humans get when they proudly achieve a long-term goal. Andrew Carnegie’s life is the exception. Andrew Carnegie was an industrialist who guided the expansion of the American steel industry in the 1800s. During this period, the United States was a demanding country for steel to use in the rail roads. Andrew Carnegie was not a hero but a heartless capitalist because he sabotaged his competitors in the steel industry, applied his belief that “(competition) insures the survival of the fittest in every department” into social standards, and, maintained his employees in unfair working
In June 1889, Andrew Carnegie wrote an article known as, “The Gospel of Wealth,” or “Wealth,” which portrays the responsibility of philanthropy. In the article, Carnegie acknowledges the “three modes in which wealth can be disposed of, which are, “it can be left to the families of the decedents; or it can be bequeathed for public purposes… or, finally, it can be administered by its possessors during their lives…” Moreover, Carnegie believes a rich man shouldn’t leave a fortune to their families and men shouldn’t wait until death to donate money for public uses. In addition, Carnegie (1889) portrays that, the only mode for a rich man to use their fortune is, “to produce the most beneficial results for the community- the man of wealth thus becoming the … agent for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer; doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves… The man who dies rich dies disgraced,” (doc 8). Nevertheless, Carnegie believes that a man of wealth should donate as much money as possible during his life to become much good in the world while living. This evidence helps explain why Andrew Carnegie was a hero because he acknowledges that a man of wealth should donate to those in need while living which makes Carnegie a courageous
The biography begins when the impoverished Carnegie family leaves their home in Scotland having been replaced by machines in the Industrial Revolution. People started sailing to America because their “old home no longer promised anything at all” (Livesay 14). They end up earning twice as much as they did in Scotland with their son Tom in school, the parents Margaret and Will shoe-binding, and Andrew working as a bobbin boy. Money earned without work was an opening to corruption in the eyes of a Republican nation and it was also assumed that hereditary wealth had caused the decline of Europe (Lena). Carnegie soon rises from poor bobbin boy to railroad superintendent, all the way to manager at the Pennsylvania Railroad. "I have made millions since, Carnegie later claimed, but none of these gave me so much happiness as my first week's earnings. I was now a helper of the family, a bread winner” (16). The background exposition on his family became crucial to understanding Carnegie’s drive to succeed. Livesay also fluently demonstrates the various professional relationships Carnegie develops throughout his life and how they affect his career. When his first investment pays a profit of $10, Carnegie discovers a whole new world of earning money from the capital. In 1865, he establishes his own business enterprises and...
He started with nothing and was able to be very successful. By working hard, he was hired by a railroad company. He was smart and open up a factory to change iron to steel and sell it to every on the market. Carnegie want to be able to own everything to be able to charge less which makes him able to control most of the market. This makes him extremely wealthy and shows people that if they work hard, they can become wealthy. Andrew Carnegie then began to think about his wealth and what he should do with it. He comes to the decision that he should give back to people and use his money for good. Carnegie then writes a book called The Gospel of Wealth. The Gospel of Wealth stated that it is the wealthy’s job to give to the poor to help them survive. It was everyone’s responsibility to help the people that were in need. Individual wealth should be passed to the society or the state rather than their kids and the wealthy should administer it. The rich were the fittest people so it should be their duty to take care of the poor or less fit people.
To understand Carnegie before he became a wealthy man, he grew up poor working for $1.20 a week (Document LV). At the age of 50 years, he took a risk by investing in a package delivery company. His gamble paid off and he gained money to start his company, Carnegie’s Steel Company. Eventually, his company grew and caused
Growing up as a young boy in Scotland, Carnegie's family was not very wealthy. They immigrated to America where Carnegie went from working as a bobbin boy, making $1.20 per hour, to making millions of dollars later in his life. Carnegie did not become wealthy by unethical means, as a Robber Baron would. Instead he worked very hard and wise to get to where he was during that time. Andrew Carnegie came from "rags to riches" in his lifetime and it paid off.
In the documents titled, William Graham Sumner on Social Darwinism and Andrew Carnegie Explains the Gospel of Wealth, Sumner and Carnegie both analyze their perspective on the idea on “social darwinism.” To begin with, both documents argue differently about wealth, poverty and their consequences. Sumner is a supporter of social darwinism. In the aspects of wealth and poverty he believes that the wealthy are those with more capital and rewards from nature, while the poor are “those who have inherited disease and depraved appetites, or have been brought up in vice and ignorance, or have themselves yielded to vice, extravagance, idleness, and imprudence” (Sumner, 36). The consequences of Sumner’s views on wealth and poverty is that they both contribute to the idea of inequality and how it is not likely for the poor to be of equal status with the wealthy. Furthermore, Carnegie views wealth and poverty as a reciprocative relation. He does not necessarily state that the wealthy and poor are equal, but he believes that the wealthy are the ones who “should use their wisdom, experiences, and wealth as stewards for the poor” (textbook, 489). Ultimately, the consequences of
There is no doubt that without the entrepreneurs of the Gilded Age America’s industrialization would have taken a much slower path. After the Civil War the country seemed to become a leading industrial power overnight. Wealthy businessmen provided welfare and relieved the country of debt, while also bringing corruption and allowing for themselves to become more rich as the poor got poorer. These man should neither be regarded solely as Robber Barons nor Captains of Industry, but rather a mixture of both. Each had their own methods of achieving and maintaining their wealth, along with what they decided to do to benefit the country rather than just themselves.
Andrew Carnegie and Samuel Gompers were two important people during the Guided age. This is the era where big industries started growing and taking over. They both had different viewpoints about the big industries that grew in the Gilded Age and the challenges this presented to working people. The only similarity in both views was they were geared toward helping the less fortunate. They way they went about it were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Andrew Carnegie believed that the wealthy should put their money back into society and not spend it frivolously, while Samuel Gompers believed that workers needed to organize into labor unions to protect themselves from the growing industries. One thing they both agreed on were big industries was
Andrew Carnegie did not seem to care for others because while his workers were losing money, Carnegie was donating money to other countries, and even different organizations. Most of Andrew Carnegie's actions showed greed and pride. Carnegie might have been a hero by giving away most of his money. He still died rich, as he said before “He who dies, rich dies disgraced” Don't be fooled by what others tell you, t ould always be sugarcoated. Not everything we see or hear is true. Carnegie treated most people wrongfully. While he was playing all fun and games, donating to others. Carnegie might have been a hero in the eyes of others, but not everyone sees him the same wa. Don't be
Free enterprise is a form of economy in which the government takes minimal control through regulation. In this form of economy the price and production of goods is decided by the consumers and producers and their wants and needs, and by considering how all of these can be met in the face of scarcity. While scarcity defines resources that are available against infinite wants and needs, it can also be used to describe the fact that future products do not yet exists and new markets have not yet been explored, and in order for consumers’ needs and wants to be met, entrepreneurs must invent new products and open new fields of study. Arguably, one of the most influential entrepreneurs in American history was Andrew
Andrew Carnegie was a man who was born poor, but wanted to change many lives for those who were like him. Since he was able to walk, he started to work he was a bobbin boy in Pittsburg. Carnegie would work 12 hours a day to
Andrew Carnegie believes in a system based on principles and responsibility. The system is Individualism and when everyone strives towards the same goals the system is fair and prosperous. Carnegie’s essay is his attempt to show people a way to reach an accommodation between individualism and fairness. This system can only work if everyone knows and participates in his or her responsibilities. I will discuss Carnegie’s thesis, his arguments and the possible results of his goals.