Why Is Andrew Carnegie Important?

Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland on November 25, 1835. Even though he had come from a family that was not very educated, they believed that books and learning were important. As a teenager in 1848, Carnegie moved with his family to the United States and lived in Pennsylvania. After a couple years, he found a job working for Pennsylvania Railroad in 1853. Under the assistance of a railroad official, Carnegie was able to learn much about business and the railroad industry. The next decade of his life was dedicated towards the steel industry.

Carnegie's business came to be called Carnegie steel, which revolutionized the production of steel in the United States. In 1868, Carnegie had a vision to build a bridge across the Mississippi,

but he had no bridge building experience. He soon started investing all of his money into building the bridge, but quickly goes into debt. With the help of an inventor named Henry Bessemer, Carnegie finally opens the St. Louis Bridge in 1873. Also, Carnegie's mass steel company builds the first Chicago skyscraper. His company continued to lead him to great success and is known as the second-richest man in the world, right under John D. Rockefeller.
At the age of sixty-five Carnegie sold his business for over $480, million to J.P. Morgan. Which today, the currency of $480 million would be over $300 billion. After Carnegie gained this wealth, he decided to put his money in good use and help out communities. He started building libraries and opened a Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Over the years, about 2,800 libraries were opened because of his help. In fact, the Pacific Grove Public Library is a Carnegie library. Andrew Carnegie died on August 11, 1919 due to bronchial pneumonia, he was buried at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York.