Carnegie’s True Intentions
Andrew Carnegie was an immigrant from Scotland that used the Bessemer’s process to change the steel industry and became one of the richest entrepreneurs during his time. He was crucial during this time because he helped build the steel industry. Steel was stronger and could be used to build taller structures such as skyscrapers. Carnegie’s success was a result of his hard work and dedication. He became an inspiration for others because his romantic story showed that hard work will eventually pay off. Nonetheless, he was labeled as both a Robber Baron and a Captain of Industry. A Captain of Industry was a person who made a positive impact on the community with their fortune. In one of his biographies, it says, “Fond of saying that “the man who dies rich dies disgraced,” Carnegie then turned his attention to giving away his fortune. He abhorred charity and instead put his money to use helping others help themselves.” He established over 2,500 public libraries and supported institutions of education. He was a philanthropist, but he was a wise one and didn’t
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This led to people labeling him as both a Robber Baron and Captain of Industry. Can we really define who Andrew Carnegie is through his actions? It implies that he has two faces and acts as both, but there is a deeper part of Andrew Carnegie only he himself would know about. What caused him to treat the steel workers badly? Something in his past must have triggered him to be the person he turned out to be. He could have been jealous of them because they had jobs when his father did not. Maybe he related more with the poor because he knows what it felt like to be at the bottom. Either way, he may be labeled as both a Captain of Industry and a Robber Baron, but that certainly doesn’t define who Andrew Carnegie
What made you categorize your choice as a Robber Baron or Captain of Industry? There are several reasons of categorizing Carnegie as Captain of Industry. First, he was a steel tycoon and a wise businessman. He did smart investments to start his own company.
Just like the treatment his workers endured Carnegie wasn't any nicer to his competitors. Andrew Carnegie was a phenomenal businessman. Much of his success is due to how he operated his business. He watched the costs of his business intently (Document C), always making sure that the steel was being produced at a lower price than what it was being sold for (Document D), and he watched his competitors even closer. In March 1889, when Allegheny Bessemer Steel built a mill directly across from Carnegie's mill it intimidated Carnegie.
They wanted to strike about it but there was no strike allowed in the steel mill. They would threaten the workers poorly and have them go home with less than $2 to provide for their families. These documents show that Andrew Carnegie was a Robber Barron and wouldn't treat his workers right and would fight for what he wanted. He would scam his customers and pay his workers poorly. On the other hand, he is a good
Andrew Carnegie was born November 25 of 1835 in the small town of Dunfermline in the United Kingdom. Raised in an impoverished family his parents worked hard and finally decided to find a new start in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an up and coming factory city. Working his way up from a meager factory worker to the superintendent of the superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad company in just 8 years, and then creating Carnegie Steel, which he would sell for $480 million was no easy feat. At least it was no easy feat, according to Carnegie’s personal testimony at his trial last week, where he was charged with reckless endangerment, hypocrisy, and greed; all of which make him a robber baron, rather then a captain of industry. Despite Carnegie’s
Starting out as a poor Scottish immigrant, Carnegie was able to fairly make his way up the industrial food chain. Beginning as a teenage messenger boy in a Pittsburgh telgraph office, Carnegie became one of the first in the country to take messages by sound. This useful skill allowed Carnegie to ascend the industrial ladder. After investing all he owned into the steel mill corporation, Carnegie became one of the wealthiest men in the world. While occasionally being dubbed a "robber baron", Carnegie would quickly prove himself otherwise with his extreme generosity.
He spent the last part of his life giving away millions of dollars. He donated funds to build more than 3,000 public libraries and he funded the Tuskegee and Carnegie Institutes. In his book, The Gospel of Wealth, he described the importance of charitable giving for the public good. These actions instantly changed Andrew Carnegie from a robber baron to a captain of industry.
He made the Carnegie Steel Company using the Bessemer process, dropping the steel price, allowing him to buy the rivaling Homestead Steel Works. He used the steel for railroads, making his superintendent job much easier and
In his business he treated his workers with long hours and very little pay so he could get more profit. Andrew Carnegie decreased his men's wages when they had no money to buy food when they were in a
Andrew Carnegie was a great business man by the end of his life but there are some minor details of his earlier life that show his cons. The purpose of Carnegie Steel made it possible for the east and west to unite in the construction of more railroads and transportation of goods. During that time he led his workers into intense labor and decreased pay which encouraged them to stand up for themselves to a strike that ended in many fatalities. Although these corrupt actions were made during Carnegie’s life in the end he realized it was wrong and did philanthropic deeds; for instance he sold his business and gave his wealth away to libraries and charitable organizations. Andrew Carnegie made mass impact to the United States through vertical integration, implementing new technology to industry like the Bessemer process and later in life giving his wealth to the
Carnegie was not a hero, because a hero does a deed selflessly, but he thought a lot about himself. 184,400,000 dollars was spent on big-name corporations and associations that would honor him by naming a meaningful belonging after him (Doc C). Carnegie was a man who wanted to feed his ego but should have donated money to help the community, not make himself known. Andrew Carnegie was not a true hero. Many may say, going from rags to riches makes Carnegie a hero.
Andrew Carnegie was a “robber baron” as shown in the way he acted towards the people who helped him reach the top and the terrible working environment that he subjected his workers to. He did various things in an attempt to positively alter his public image by overshadowing the awful things he had done. At the start of Carnegie’s career in business, he worked under Thomas Scott where he learned how to be successful in business. Minimizing costs were the best way to make a business profitable and lowering those required cutting wages, demanding 13 hour days and utilizing spies as a way to thwart possible strikes. He would use many of these ideas and practices in his own business causing him to eventually become the undisputed king of steel.
Carnegie was considered a Robber Baron for many reasons. For example, he gained huge profits because of his workers low wages. In the excerpt, “Who was Andrew Carnegie,” the author said, “his steel workers were often pushed to long hours and low wages.” Workers worked in harsh conditions and received no benefits causing them to live in poverty with scarce food, clothing, and shelter. Workers were tired of the low wages and decided to go on strike.
Andrew Carnegie was one of the most famous and wealthiest American industrialist during the Industrial Age. He was a robber baron who made a fortune in the steel industry and applied vertical integration to his business. Carnegie contradicted his views as a robber baron because he supported, but destroyed many unions. This made many of his views unethical.
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie’s was one of the most successful businessmen during America’s Age of Industrialization in the 1880’s. After the Civil War, he saw a future in having a career in the iron industry, and later on, decided to invest in the steel industry (PBS). Though Carnegie is most known for his contribution in the steel industry, he took part in a few other businesses as well. However, the Gilded Age is an era full of poverty and corruption hidden underneath the prosperous, wealthy nation, and the working conditions within Carnegie Steel Company were not much better than those in other factories (Resetar).
He is a man worthy of being respected. 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