Social Darwinism Andrew Carnegie

Industrialization was wide spread during the early 19th century largely due to the advancement of the railroad system. A system put into place that allowed businesses to transport their goods throughout the countryside. Unfortunately, the wrought iron that was used for the rails couldn’t hold up long enough under those extreme conditions. For this reason, another alternative was needed to keep everything functioning as it should. Andrew Carnegie, an immigrant from Scotland who started in the textile industry couldn’t let that opportunity slip by and with the use of the Bessemer process he was able to make a stronger metal out of pig iron.
The process took off slow in 1872 with him only producing about 70 tons a week but by 1892 the gains

he made were substantial once he figured out a plan that would allow him to produce 10000 tons a week. This was fantastic for Andrew but devastating to his employees because they had to endure the back breaking work for 12 hours a day, seven days a week. For this reason, he had to constantly rotate employees in and out often but he didn’t care. In his mind he would always have the manpower to accomplish his goal. Another decision he made was with the creation of vertical integration in which he was able to assume control over production and distribution by owning the companies. In addition to cutting cost wherever he could and demanding that his workers commit to the process of long hours several days a week he would go on to be the largest producer of steel in the world.

Andrew Carnegie was very successful, but he wasn’t the only one to take advantage of opportunities that allowed him to become a millionaire. John D. Rockefeller discovered oil in 1859 and from there he went on to be one of the shrewdest businessmen of that era. He opened his first oil company in the 1860s and from there he went on to become the largest oil refiner in the Midwest. This was accomplish by means of undercutting his competition, offering secret rebates, buying out his competitors, and creating a trust/board that he was allowed to sit on which gave him the power to coordinate policies that would eventually affect the other oil refineries. Steps were put in place to try and put an end to Rockefeller’s dealings but through no avail. He simply just moved his businesses to a different state and put the companies in different names as to not show ownership which allowed him to continue on his path of creating the monopoly that he greatly wanted.
It was only a matter of time before others decided to take on this way of life as it was very profitable and allowed some to acquire power over the less fortunate.

Social Darwinism which was basically a survival of the fittest module allowed the strongest to keep advancing and the weak and meager to remain stagnant. The ones with money and power didn’t have many obstacles in their way which allowed them to thrive during that era and if a problem presented itself they had the means to solve it. Unfortunately, the less fortunate one had to fend for themselves, but everyone who had attained wealth didn’t have the attitude of letting people suffer and make it on their own. Although Andrew Carnegie was a hard man to work for he did give millions to charity to help others who were in need and also suggested that his others in his position follow suit.

Laissez-Faire economics which was named by Adam Smith played a significant role during that time because it allowed businesses to have complete control without the interference of the government. The overall goal was that with this in place employers would be more profitable which they would in turn pass down to the employees, but greed reared its ugly head once again and as a result you had harsh treatment of the workers and disregard for consumer safety which required the government to become more involved to protect the people of the

land.