Andrew Carnegie On The Gospel Of Wealth :: essays research papers

Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1835. His father, Will, was a weaver and a follower of Chartism, a popular exertion of the British working class that called for the masses to vote and to run for Parliament in order to help improve conditions for workers. The exposure to such political beliefs and his familys pauperisation made a lasting impression on young Andrew and played a significant role in his life after his family immigrated to the United States in 1848. Andrew Carnegie amassed wealth in the steel industry after immigrating from Scotland as a boy. He came from a poor family and had little formal education. The roots of Carnegies internal conflicts were ingrained in Dunfermline, Scotland, where he was born in 1835, the son of a weaver and political radical who instilled in young Andrew the values of political and economic equality. His familys poverty, however, taught Carnegie a different lesson. When the Carnegies emigrated to America in 1848, Carnegie determined to bring prosperity to his family. He worked many small jobs which included working for the Pennsylvania Railroad where he initiative recognized the importance of steel. With this recognition, he resigned and started the Keystone Bridge Company in 1865. He built a steel-rail mill, and bought out a small steel company. By 1888, he had a large plant. Later on he sold his Carnegie Steel Company to J. P. Morgans U.S. Steel Company after a serious, bloody amount strike.He saw himself as a hero of working people, yet he crushed their unions. The richest man in the world, he railed against privilege. A generous philanthropist, he shortened the wages of the workers who made him rich. By this time, Carnegie was an established, successful millionaire. He was a great philanthropist, donating over $350 million dollars to public causes, opening libraries, silver for teachers, and funds to support peace. In the end, he gave away about 90% of his own money to various causes. He als o preached to others to do the same as in giving money for education and sciences.The problem, however, was that there was such a contrast between the rich and the poor. By this he was referring to the inequalities in rights, hereditary powers, and such things. He also matte up we should have a continuum of forward progress, i.e. civilizing, industrializing.Apparently in his time there was a movement to drift back into a time when there was little locomote in modernizing and technologically advancing when "neither master nor servant was as well situated.