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The impact of andrew carnegie on the industrial nation at the time
Contribution of Andrew Carnegie to the economy
Andrew Carnegie Industry
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Andrew Carnegie was the Scottish - American industrialist responsible for the steel industry’s expansion. During this time period, America was in the Industrial Revolution. This essay will discuss Carnegie’s early life, career, his later life as a philanthropist, and his legacy. On November 25, in the year of our Lord 1835, in Dunfermline, Scotland, Andrew Carnegie was born to Margaret Morrison Carnegie and William Carnegie. Andrew didn’t get much of a formal education besides attending the Free School, which was also in Dunfermline. Despite this, his family believed in reading and education. By 1840, his family was struggling to keep their house and family together, so in 1848, they decided to borrow money from his uncle to move to Allegheny, …show more content…
He was a hardworking employee and was able to memorize important details. After a year of being a messenger boy, he was promoted to an operator. Not long after his promotion, Colonel James Anderson allowed the employees to work in his library. Andrew Carnegie’s education grew and he became known as a self-made man. Soon his hard work, education, and awareness gave him many opportunities. In 1853, Andrew Carnegie moved to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company with his main job as a secretary and a side job as a telegraph operator. After Andrew Carnegie worked 6 years at the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Thomas A. Scott asked him if he wanted the job of superintendent of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and on December 1st, 1859 he officially took the job. In 1855, Carnegie made his first investment in a company called the Adams Express. In 1861 when the Civil War came, he became the Superintendent of Military Railways. He was also responsible for the telegraph lines in the Union. Carnegie invested in Story Farm for 40 thousand dollars in 1864; it was well worth it, as he gained a profit of over $60,000. Sometime after this, he left the railway company formed his first ironworks company, Keystone Bridge Company. It was highly successful. He also came to make other ironworks companies, such as Union Iron …show more content…
Morgan, Carnegie made the United States Steel Corporation, which was the first business with a capitalization of over 1 billion dollars. Around this time, he was considering retiring and sold his business for 480 million dollars and had 225,639,000 in 50-year gold bonds. In total today that would be 20, 300, 000, 000, which isn’t including what he made from his companies. After retiring, he decided to become a philanthropist. Note that he had already done philanthropic works before this decision. One of his greatest efforts, among many, was making libraries throughout different countries. In 1901, he created the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. It became official in 1902, which was the year he donated two million dollars to help found the Carnegie Institution. Two years later, he founded the Carnegie Hero Fund. In 1911, he gave ten million to the Carnegie Institution, which he had given two million to some years before. And, on October 14, 1917, he was inducted into the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity. Andrew Carnegie died, in Lenox, Massachusetts, on August 11, 1919. His cause of death was bronchial
Despite the negative encounters of Andrew Carnegie’s Steel Company, the exploration and exchange of Carnegie Steel is that the steel was cheap. This had a positive impact on the United States because steel fed national growth, steel meant more jobs, national prestige, and a higher quality of life for
Andrew Carnegie, the monopolist of the steel industry, was one of the worst of the Robber Barons. Like the others, he was full of contradictions and tried to bring peace to the world, but only caused conflicts and took away the jobs of many factory workers. Carnegie Steel, his company, was a main supplier of steel to the railroad industry. Working together, Carnegie and Vanderbilt had created an industrial machine so powerful, that nothing stood in its path. This is much similar to how Microsoft has monopolized the computer software
Andrew Carnegie, was a strong-minded man who believed in equal distribution and different forms to manage wealth. One of the methods he suggested was to tax revenues to help out the public. He believed in successors enriching society by paying taxes and death taxes. Carnegie’s view did not surprise me because it was the only form people could not unequally distribute their wealth amongst the public, and the mediocre American economy. Therefore, taxations would lead to many more advances in the American economy and for public purposes.
middle of paper ... ... as farmers became more conscious of prices rising to transport their goods, they were forced to find other means of transportation to distribute their goods. Even though these men attempted to build a stable foundation for America to grow on, their negative aspects dramatically outweighed the positive. Even though Andrew Carnegie donated his fortunes to charity, he only acquired the money through unjustifiable actions. As these industrialists continued to monopolize companies through illegal actions, plutocracy- government controlled by the wealthy, took control of the Constitution.
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.
Industrial development of the late 18th century (around 1865-1900) is often characterized by it’s affluent, aggressive and monopolistic industrial leaders of the likes of men such as Andrew Carnegie, William H. Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller. Due to their ruthless strategies, utilization of trusts, and exploitation of cheap labor in order to garner nearly unbreakable monopolies and massive sums of wealth, these men are often labelled as “robber barons”. At the same time, they are also often referred to as “industrial statements” for their organization, and catalyst of, industrial development; not to forget their generous contributions to the betterment of American society. Therefore, whether or not their aforementioned advances in industry were undertaken for their own personal benefits, one cannot ignore their positive effects on America. Thus, one can conclude that not only were the captains of industry both “robber barons” and “industrial statements”, but that that these two labels, in fact, go hand-in-hand.
Over the years Carnegie became tired of being in the steel business, so when J.P Morgan and his partners were interested in Carnegie’s Steel Company, Carnegie found that way would be a great way to get out of that world. Carnegie sold his company to them left them to $480,000,000, that was the second smart move for him. In 1901 Carnegie became the richest man alive, and he knew he had to give it away when he died.
In Harold C. Livesay’s Andrew Carnegie and the rise of Big Business, Andrew Carnegie’s struggles and desires throughout his life are formed into different challenges of being the influential leader of the United States of America. The book also covers the belief of the American Dream in that people can climb up the ladder of society by hard work and the dream of becoming an influential citizen, just as Carnegie did.
Leaders such as Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, and Ford were all philanthropic and gave away their money to those in need. For instance, Andrew Carnegie had given a total of over $350 million in his lifetime and had centered his philanthropy on education and the quest for world peace. Carnegie built libraries mainly because he wanted to promote self-education and that he wanted everyone to have the access to books. He founded Carnegie University. He had always thought that “The rich have a moral obligation to give away their fortunes.” John D. Rockefeller donated over $550 million in his lifetime. Rockefeller built the University of Chicago and then founded Rockefeller University. The Rockefeller Foundation was his last charitable foundation and he had such an abundant amount of money that the foundation is still working “to promote the well-being of mankind throughout the world.” J.P. Morgan was an equally giving philanthropist after he retired from banking. He had become the president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art while he was also a trustee (lead donor, vice president, treasurer, and finance committee chairman). His love for the natural sciences gave way to the American Museum of Natural History. Morgan was also a part of the Episcopal Church which he had devoted a great deal of time to. Henry Ford
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
Steel Company after a serious, bloody union strike.He saw himself as a hero of working people, yet he crushed their unions. The richest man in the world, he railed against privilege. A generous philanthropist, he slashed the wages of the workers who made him rich. By this time, Carnegie was an established, successful millionaire. He was a great philanthropist, donating over $350 million dollars to public causes, opening libraries, money for teachers, and funds to support peace.
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish American industrialist who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. He built a leadership role as a philanthropist for America and the British Empire. During the last 18 years of his life, he gave away to charities, foundations, and universities about $350 million – almost 90 percent of his fortune. His 1889 article proclaiming "The Gospel of Wealth" called on the rich to use their wealth to improve society, and it stimulated a wave of philanthropy.
Carnegie joined Thomas Scott during the civil war and developed a military graphing system. After this he advanced from telegraphy going through railroading and bridge building until he found himself in steelmaking, where he would make his profit. Due to his practical and ambitious ways, Carnegie wanted to dominate the steel industry, leading him to be tyrannical and a dishonest. Carnegie’s talent lied within promoting and selling steel rather than the technical part of steelmaking. Much like Rockefeller, Carnegie was also philanthropic because he gave much of his money away to build libraries, hospitals, parks, etc.
Carnegie saw how bad the wooden railroads were, so he proceeded to slowly replace them with iron ones. Carnegie's charm, perception, and hard work led to becoming one of the world's most famous men of the time, and led to the first corporation in the world with a market capitalization in excess of one billion when he sold his companies to John Morgan who called them United States Steel Corporation.
There have been many wealthy men Throughout American history, many have been the topic of many heated debates among them, Andrew Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie at one time was the richest man in the world, who immediately after gaining that title began giving his money away. The impact and size of Carnegie’s philanthropic efforts are undeniable, but why he gave so much has been a topic of debate for nearly a century now. Carnegie’s rags to riches story is the epitome of the American dream and has been an inspiration to many entrepreneurs around the world.