Andrew Carnegie Dbq Essay

Did you know Andrew Carnegie earned $92,000 everyday while his workers earned a measly $1.50? Andrew Carnegie grew up poor. At twelve he left school and began working to help support his family. He worked 12 hour days for $1.20 a week at a textile mill. He then began delivering telegrams for $4 a week. He then worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad and in 7 years worked his way up to make $1,500 a year. He then met Bessemer which showed him the work of steel, which Carnegie adopted. He invested in mills and had the Thomson Steel Works. He then acquired interest in Frick coal fields, coke ovens, ore fields, railroads, and ships. In the end Carnegie sold his business in steel to J. P. Morgan and gave most of his money away in his later years. From

This can be seen through some of the documents, including Document 5. In this it show a list of some of the places Andrew Carnegie gave gifts of money to. One was to create Lake Carnegie for rowing at Princeton University and another was a fund for steel workers and families for the Homestead Relief Fund. From these and several other donations he gave over $350,695,653 to education and organizations. His corporation still gives about $100,000,000 for mostly education purposes. Because of all the giving it shows how in some aspects of his life he was a hero and helped people who needed it. The final document that shows this is Document 2. This shows us a chart of production cost in relation to selling price throughout approximately 13 years. It shows how the production cost in 1875 was very expensive going at around $55 and sold at $65. By 1883-1888 it went down and production was $30 and the selling price was approximately $33. This helped the consumers in being able to buy the product. Now people could afford it compared to in 1875. By these actions it shows Carnegie as a hero and someone who helps people and gives money for education purposes and was able to lower prices to make things more

One argument that could be made would be from Document 1. This tells us Carnegie’s opinion of society in which he states he believes in the survival of the fittest and thinks you need to work for what you want. People could take this as that he doesn't want to help poor people and that he doesn't care about them. Also it could be supported through the fact that he gave most money to schools and organizations and not to poor people. Another argument could be related to the treatment of workers in Document 3. It could be said that he is not at all good because he treated his own workers terribly and gave them low pay even after a strike, which appeared to have done nothing for them. This document also says how people would die from things falling on them and that they would die every once in awhile, causing people to die and not go home to families. The final document is Document 6. This is the same political cartoon as before with Carnegie as having a double role. This can be looked at as he lowers the workers pay and he gives money to others. Some could say that he is only giving away to make himself look good and like a philanthropist even though he treats others without respect. Although this can be said it is not completely true. Carnegie donated to schools and lowered prices for people so they could buy things that were affordable. This is what a hero