Personal Opinion Essay: Andrew Carnegie And The American Dream

Since the time of the pilgrims, America has been known as the “land of opportunity” where freedom lays and anything is possible. For hundreds of years people have come to America to escape prosecution, find freedom and for a chance at a better life. Eventually, the foundation for the American Dream was founded on these ideals. To many the American Dream means that every citizen has an equal opportunity to do anything they desire and become successful. Essentially, that with hard work and determination anything is possible. However, the American Dream is not actually achievable due to the fact that no matter how hard someone works, they will never be able to achieve the level of success that they hoped for and may never be successful. Students are a primary example of a group of people that work exceptionally hard but often see unsatisfying results. In this

Andrew Carnegie is one of the most famous examples of a man that reached the American Dream. He himself, was an immigrant and worked his way up through the Pennsylvania Railroad company. He eventually started his own company and created a monopoly by controlling all the companies that made the supplies that he needed to make railroads like the steel and coal companies. In doing this he could buy supplies at extremely low rates and make a fortune off of the railroad business while it was booming. By his mid 30’s, when Carnegie sold his company, he was one of the most wealthy men in America. However, despite his success this does not mean the American Dream is achievable. Carnegie is just one man who got lucky. He happened to own a railroad company at the height of the industries popularity and success and sold it right before its downfall. No other person would ever be able to achieve and type of success close to his in such a short period of time. Therefore, the American Dream is not achievable to the common