Free Essay

Carnegie

In:

Submitted By hfow9597
Words 517
Pages 3
Carnegie was a complex and confounding character. In many ways, his internal contradictions reflected the contradictions of capitalism, contradictions we in the world’s wealthy nations still live out, collectively, of course, but also individually – though mainly on a much smaller-scale than Carnegie! [The average yearly income at purchasing power parity of a Haitian is U.S $1,300, compared to an average yearly income at for a New Zealander of U.S $27,900 -Estimates, 2008, source CIA Fact book, retrieved April 2014]. Carnegie’s wealth was accumulated by luck, skill, vision, the exploitation and suffering of his workers, environmental degradation, bribery, lies & deception, monopoly power, industrial espionage, technological advancement, economies of scale and reinvestment, deal making & breaking.
The money was not of importance, in a material sense, to Carnegie for most of his career he had, by his early thirties, achieved significant wealth it mattered only as a measuring stick for his obsessive competitiveness: Carnegie was man who desperately needed to win.
Even at the time, he was equally praised and condemned (both with good reason) for his philanthropy: many could not forgive him for the way his wealth had been accumulated; many were concerned about the power to shape society that accumulated in the hands of such a rich man a power that Carnegie, a great egotist, did not hesitate to use; others praised the increasing breadth of his vision, and the good works and contributions he was undoubtedly making to society as he systematically and carefully disbursed the wealth he had striven so hard to accumulate.
While in business, Carnegie himself seemed to deal with the conditions of his workers by choosing not to know and think about it, lying to himself and others about the on the ground realities. Out of sight, out of mind. He spent most of his time far away from the great steel works and the filthy, poverty-ridden towns around them, preferring New York, Europe, and the beautiful surrounds of his Scottish Castle.
Only after retirement was he willing to face some of the dark side of his industry. In 1908, Carnegie attended a ‘Conference on the Conservation of Natural Resources”, where he marshaled a devastating array of facts to show that the industry he had been a key part of for so many years was wastefully exploiting natural resources, and not only that, causing unnecessary loss of human life in industrial accidents. (Carnegie p.xx-xx)
He was a clever capitalist, selfish, scheming, greedy, and ruthless. A lot like Leland Stanford, who founded Stanford University? Stanford made his money by buying off politicians for free land along the Union Pacific Railway (5 miles on either side of the tracts). Later, their guilt and a desire to be remembered for eternity made them philanthropists with some of their money given to or for Universities and Libraries and what have you. Notice there name is always dominantly displayed on the edifice built by their money.
References
Bridging the Urban Landscape: Andrew Carnegie: A Tribute. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2014, from http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/carnegie.html

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Rockefeller and Carnegie

...Rockefeller and Carnegie In the nineteenth century two of the greatest entrepreneurs were born. These two men, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller epitomized the word monopoly, by becoming the biggest industry giants of their time. Carnegie was the leader of the steel industry, while Rockefeller controlled oil. Both of these men were similar; they came from humble beginnings and showed interest in their careers at a young age. On November 25, 1835 William Carnegie had his first child named Andrew in Dunfermline, Scotland. Andrew Carnegie faced poverty most of his young life; this was because of the era called industrialization, which replaced the once successful hand weaver, William Carnegie with a steamed powered loom in 1847. Young Carnegie and his family moved from Scotland to the united states in 1848; they lived in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Here is where Carnegie’s career in steel began. At the age of eighteen, Carnegie was employed by Thomas Scott, one of the top officials in railroading, as an assistant and telegrapher. Working here gave Carnegie the experience and business savvy he needed to invest in some up-and-coming iron mills and factories; but Carnegie, during his travels, saw the potential of the new steel industry. In 1847 Carnegie opened the first steel furnace. Over the next couple of years Carnegie’s aggressive sale maneuvers; lowering prices of the steel, buying out weak partners, and outselling his competitors, would put Carnegie at the top of the...

Words: 778 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Andrew Carnegie

...#1: “Gospel Of Wealth” Andrew Carnegie was a man who believed that any person with the right set of skills and education could become wealthy. Carnegie himself was a Scottish immigrant who dragged himself from rags, to one of the richest men in the United States. He thought that if a person was “rich,” then they were more admirable than others and, therefore, knew how to prosper in society. Carnegie states “Those worthy of assistance, except in rare cases, seldom require assistance.” Carnegie believed in a form of Darwinism, Social Darwinism. He consistently speaks in a paternalistic manner throughout his essay, portraying himself as a man of unspeakable wealth and playing to the fact that he is better than most because of it. Carnegie was not a man with little to say. He had strong feeling towards wealth and how it should be handled and this in evident in his writing of the, Gospel of Wealth. Carnegie proposes that there are three modes in which wealth can be distributed: Inheritance, Bequeathed for public uses, and managed by its possessor within his/her lifetime. He then goes into great detail on each mode, for example; inheritance is said to be the most injudicious method in the world. Carnegie’s idea that it is up to each generation to find their way in society plays into his feelings towards this mode. He further explains that inheritance is selfish and injustice not only to the inheritor but also to the mother and children. Carnegie suggest It is not the exception...

Words: 882 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Andrew Carnegie

...Social Responsibility Professor: Pete Macky Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie was arguably one of the richest men in America. From his companies emerged the steel to build the infrastructures such as railroads, bridges, automobiles, and ships that would build a nation in need of direction. He played a major role in the transformation into the Industrial Revolution, producing the steels to make machinery and transportation possible. Carnegie built his empire from cost control, low prices, low profits, and high volume to make himself the richest man in the world. Some people call him a villain, some people call him a hero? So, was Carnegie really a business hero in American history? Andrew Carnegie was born in a very poor family from Scotland. His first job was at the age of thirteen; he was working as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill. It was his second job in which he was able to learn many important structures of business. Working most of the day, he never had time to go to school like other kids. Therefore, he went to the library to study whenever he has time. He later was hired by Thomas A.Scott to work as a private secretary and a personal telegrapher. When the Civil War came, he was the right hand man of Scott, who was the supervisor of military transportation for the North back then. Working as Scott’s right hand man, Carnegie was able to gain experience in the railroad industry. After the Civil War, Carnegie took Scott’s former position as superintendent of the western...

Words: 748 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Andrew Carnegie

...The Man, the Story Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie came from humble begins, born in Scotland on 25th November 1835. He and his parents stayed in Scotland until 1848 when they went to America, due to the economic depression. He had his first job at the age of 12 in a cotton factory but his knew that he had to continue to get an education by going to night school. “At 14 Carnegie became a messenger boy in the local Pittsburgh Telegraph Office. His abilities were noticed by Thomas A. Scott, the superintendent of the western division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He made Carnegie his secretary. During the Civil War Scott was appointed assistant secretary of war and Carnegie went to Washington to work as his right-hand man. Carnegie's work included organizing the military telegraph system.” (Spartacus School Net, 2011). The work that he did with Mr. Scott was the stepping stone that he needed to start his climb to the top. Carnegie took over as the superintendent of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. “Carnegie shrewdly invested in several promising ventures including the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company and several small iron mills and factories. The most important of these was Keystone Bridge, a company which he owned a one-fifth share. Carnegie made regular visits to Britain where he observed the rapid developments in the iron industry. He was especially impressed by the converter invented by Henry Bessemer. Carnegie realized that steel would now replace iron for the...

Words: 912 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Andrew Carnegie

...Andrew Carnegie: A Tribute "My heart is in the work." -- Andrew Carnegie Neither a rags-to-riches biographical sketch nor a perfectly scanned-in image of Mr. Carnegie could serve as as great a personal tribute to the great Founder of Libraries, the earnest Champion of Peace and the resolute Captain of Industry as presenting his own words online--available electronically and immediately to the whole world through the World Wide Web. He would be tickled pink. Mr. Carnegie loved to promote his ideas and opinions in print. As one of America's most successful businessmen and, perhaps, the world's richest man, it can be assumed that he felt his opinions and advice were not without proven merit. In fact, his journalistic career had begun early when the young man found himself barred from free membership in Col. James Anderson's "Mechanics' and Apprentices' Library." In 1853 Carnegie took the matter to the pages of the Pittsburgh Dispatch; and, as Joseph Wall notes in his definitive biography of Andrew Carnegie, the victory the young man won through his letters to the editor left a lasting impression: It was also his first literary success, and for Andrew nothing else that he had known in the way of recognition by others had been quite as exhilarating as this experience of seeing his own words in print. It fed his vanity and at the same time increased his appetite for more such food. At that moment a journalistic ambition was born which he would spend the remainder of his life...

Words: 1076 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Carnegie Steel

...watched in class, Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel, I learned a lot about what steel manufacturing had to do with the Gilded Age time period in America. The film first opened by talking about how in the late 1800’s Andrew Carnegie was now the richest man in the United States. But how did he get to be that way? Well, that is what the film goes into next. New Englanders were faced with a crisis in these times, iron was too expensive, but iron was the thing that fueled the New Englanders industry. So the colony started to manufacture their own iron to try and cut costs. Many iron mills were created in the New England area, and some Americans, but many indentured servants from Europe worked in the iron mills. With America becoming a hub for producing iron, the British wanted to restrict the growth of the iron mills in the United States but ultimately failed, because by independence day, the United States now produced 1/4 of the worlds iron. Many cities emerged with the creation of the many iron mills in America, one being Pittsburg, which became iron’s capital. When Andrew Carnegie was a young boy, he was poor and worked as a telegrapher, until noticed and admired by Tom Scott, a man who was very knowledgable in the railroad and iron industry. Soon after Tom Scott discovered Carnegie, Carnegie became his assistant, and became very interested in iron and the use of it to build America’s many new railroads. However, while iron was a great industry for Carnegie, with the invention...

Words: 757 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Dale Carnegie

...| How to Win Friends & Influence People | Dale Carnegie | arbee hanna 12/14/2014 | Dale Carnegie's book How to Win Friends and Influence People gives several analyze methods and examples on how to succeed in the business world. The book's chapters are involved of how to handle people, how to be a successful leader, and how to win people to your way of thinking. The preface provides several ideas and suggestions that will help the reader get the most out of the book. The author suggests that the reader keep an open mind, and also suggest some other reading materials that will also help.   The first chapter deals with how to handle people successfully. In this chapter it highlights one of the most important things you can do when dealing with people and their particular situation is to rationalize with them, meaning that to better understand were the person is coming from you must put yourself in their shoes. Everyone can and will rationalize why they make the decisions they make. People like the infamous Al Capone never thought he was a bad person. He had rationalized the actions he took and the decisions he made. This is a good example to lead into the first principle, which is that no one should ever critize, complain, or condemn other people. Principe two suggests that you always give people or sincere appreciation. You shouldn’t sit and think about your own individual accomplishments and successes, but compliment others on their successes. The...

Words: 2412 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Andrew Carnegie

...Andrew Carnegie: Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835, in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. As a young kid his parents believed in books and education. As a young adult he wanted to make money, so he got a job as a factory worker when his family moved to Pennsylvania in 1848. A year after that, he got a different job as a telegraph messenger. Wanting to go further he became a telegraph operator. He then got a job on the railroad as an assistant and telegrapher. Carnegie began to make many investments, one of these was oil. He then began becoming interested in steel. He soon opened up his own business called Carnegie steel company. He revolutionized the steel industry as we know it. He began building steel plants all over the country. Using new technology and new methods he was able to mass produce steel. He was so successful because he had everything he needed, raw material, ships, and railroads. http://www.biography.com/people/andrew-carnegie-9238756#early-life Carnegie treated his workers poorly. Since steel was cheap, that meant that his workers suffered. The workers had lower wages due to this. The steel was cheap so he couldn’t really pay his workers fairly. Also job security was an issue, people would be there for a little, then he would get new people. The workers never really knew when they would be laid off or if they had a job, no one really knew. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/sfeature/mf_flames.html When Carnegie...

Words: 422 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Andrew Carnegie

...Crystal Martin Summary of The Gospel of Andrew Carnegie After the Civil War, the United States’ economy found itself drastically changing. Many people believe that because of the North’s victory over the south, this inspired people to begin investing and building, along with influencing stocks and bonds. The people who did this were known as “robber barons”, which was a derogatory term to describe their greed. The rest of the economy was slowly realizing that these “robber barons” had much more power in the economy than many governments. In 1970 when the economy began its downfall into a depression, hundreds of thousands of people found themselves suddenly without a job. This led people to wonder if the robber barons would organize any types of charity to help out those less fortunate. Since these were the people who controlled all of the money, only time would tell if they would help out. Andrew Carnegie was the first robber baron to start donating, mostly to universities and libraries. Carnegie was not born wealthy, but slowly started off working as a messenger boy. He made such a strong impression that he was soon promoted to secretary, earning $35 a week. His superintendent at the railroad took a strong liking to him, often giving investment tips. He made good investments, which paid off big time. He learned how to produce steel and started a few plants, making more money than he had ever dreamed of. Carnegie’s goal was to earn $50,000 a year and anything else more...

Words: 329 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Is Andrew Carnegie A Hero?

...Throughout history there is been many heroes such as Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Junior. But, one disputed idea is that Andrew Carnegie, a self made billionaire and philanthropist, was a hero. Andrew Carnegie shouldn't be considered a hero because he lacked concern for others, reduced wages for his workers, and cause people to rely on his money by giving them wealth to build himself up. The first reason why Andrew Carnegie isn't a hero is because Carnegie reduced wages from his workers and then gave his money that he saved from cutting wages to large cities. Document D shows how Carnegie was double faced, he cut 20% of the wages in 1892, but then gave an estimated $25 million to the “library”. The next reason why Carnegie...

Words: 315 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Affidavit--Andrew Carnegie

...it improved transportation. Railroad development dramatically grew, as trains were needed to move goods from the west to the east. This was Cornelius Vanderbilt’s area of expertise. John D Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, whereas Andrew Carnegie built a Steel Empire from the ground up. However all of these so-called, “geniuses” were robber barons, because they ridiculously rich through their ruthless business deals. The Gilded Age was exactly what the name means; having a pleasing or showy appearance that in all reality conceals something of little worth. Although everything seemed glitzy and glamorous on the outside that was not how it truly was. In 1890, 11 million of the nation’s 12 million families earned less the $1200 a year. From this, the average annual income was only $380, which was well below the poverty line. Many Americans and new immigrants crowded into urban areas, causing them to be teeming with crime and filth. Andrew Carnegie was the creator of the Steel Empire and is considered a Robber Baron because he rose to the top in a very unfair way. The other Robber Barons of this time were also unfair, but what they did was not as severe as to the degree of Carnegie. For example, Rockefeller used his wartime profits to finance his investment in Samuel Andrew’s oil refinery, which eventually led to him creating the Standard Oil Company that then led to his huge fortune. What Rockefeller did differently though was...

Words: 629 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Examples Of Andrew Carnegie A Hero

...superior? No, what makes a hero heroic are three specific and important qualities. Andrew Carnegie was a famous philanthropy who donated much of his fortune to the community;, especially towards education. He earned his fortune by adopting the Bessemer process and building a steel mill in Pittsburgh. Andrew Carnegie was a hero because he possessed the three qualities in which makes one a hero: integrity, courage, and a concern for others. One reason Carnegie was a hero was that he showed integrity through his speech intended for the people. For example, in his speech, “Wealth”, he states, “...Men who leave vast sums in this way may fairly be thought men who would not have left it at all had they been able to take it with them…” When Carnegie says that men shouldn’t leave behind a lot of money he is showing that he believes what’s wrong and what’s right. Also, in his speech “Wealth”, he states, “The man who dies rich dies disgraced.” Carnegie is saying that men who die wealthy are a disgrace because it is what he believes in....

Words: 483 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Andrew Carnegie Biography Essay

...Andrew Carnegie: born in a one-room cottage in Scotland to a master weaver named William Carnegie who’d been put out of a job by the advent of the factory system, and his wife Margaret, who tended to the family and helped her brother in his cobbler business. He would grow to become the richest man America had ever known, and much of this he would credit to his early determined statement that “the wolf of poverty should be driven from our door someday” (viii). He extols the values of the necessity of work in the pursuit of wealth in his writing, yet is considered a great capital investor, who made much of his money from investments. He expresses that the value of wealth is in its application as a philanthropic device, but is known to have...

Words: 846 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Andrew Carnegie Is Not A Hero Essay

...A true hero is someone that people look up to because they care so much for people and making the world a better place. They are not selfish, and just want to lend a helping hand. Andrew Carnegie was not like this until he earned millions of dollars and was able to retire without and worries.Carnegie, originally from Scotland was a savvy businessman and revolutionized the oil business, by using vertical integration. He bought many suppliers so he could control the materials, and transportation system. By 1901 Carnegie had created a monopoly and earned 225 million dollars. Although Andrew Carnegie made many charitable donations after his career in the oil business, he should not be considered a hero because he lacks the qualities that make up...

Words: 1020 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Andrew Carnegie Research Paper

...The men who allegedly built America had many privileges that are not allowed today because of many things that they did. Men like Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Ford did many things as a group that were unethical and unlawful, while creating ideas that did helped to further the business world, but the laws that were made to cover these laws and unethical things that they did been tightened down so much. Andrew Carnegie- Born on Nov. 25 in dunfermline, Scotland. He grew up poor and got a job at the age of 13 in a factory earning $1.20 a week. Andrew Carnegie’s mother lived with him until 1886 when she passed away. The following year he married Louise Whitfield(History.com). Andrew and Louise...

Words: 2014 - Pages: 9