andrew carnegie

A detailed Summary of andrew carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was often noted as saying, "The man who dies rich dies disgraced."(The American Experience: Andrew Carnegie). Unlike many of the other captains of industry at the time, Carnegie was well known for his numerous contributions to charity. Carnegie believed that the rich had a moral obligation to society. In 1889 he wrote The Gospel of Wealth, in which he said,

This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: To set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; and, after doing so, to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer, and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community-the man of wealth thus becoming the mere trustee and agent for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves.

Carnegie distributed his fortune through numerous personal gifts and through the establishment of various trusts

Carnegie also personified the American Dream to the highest degree. He was the ultimate success story. Originally born in Scotland, he immigrated to the United States in 1848. At the age of thirteen he went to work as a bobbin boy at a cotton mill. He later went on to work for Western Union and the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1865, he resigned to start his own business, which later became known as the Carnegie Steel Company. By 1890 the Carnegie Steel Company dominated the industry as its profits continued to soar. Carnegie's amazing rags to riches story and unheard-of devotion to charity made him the perfect poster boy for the Industrial Revolution. According to Owen Edwards, a historian at the University of Edinburgh, "Carnegie was more than most people. Not only more wealthy, not only more optimistic, Carnegie is still, right throughout his life, the little boy in the fairy story, for whom everything has to be all right." Many historians view Carnegie as the "Prime representative of the Industrial Age." However, behind the scenes there was a much different person.

The statements presented are valid to some extent, but behind the scenes is where the validity of those statements is truly tested. In the end, one finds that Carnegie was not unlike the other Captains of Industry. He was a ruthless businessman, who was willing to destr

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Category: History