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Andrew Carnegie's Influence On Society

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Andrew Carnegie was one of the richest people to ever live. He gained his wealth through the steel industry. He was also a big philanthropist which meant he loved to give away his money for a good cause. A big reason why Andrew Carnegie is famous it because he has donated over 350 million dollars which was about 90% of his wealth. By donating his money he has greatly affected society by helping build libraries, universities, a music hall, and huge donations to museums. He also had a great influence on treatment of employees and his views on their rights. Andrew Carnegie was also a huge peace advocate.
After Andrew Carnegie retired and sold his company to J.P. Morgan for $480 million becoming the richest man alive at the time, he became a …show more content…

He even said himself that he supported labor unions. He even disapproved the use of strikebreakers because he thought that no steel mill is worth a drop of blood. Many people thought that thought this until the homestead steel strike. Andrew Carnegie went back to Scotland where his roots were from, and during this time he put Henry Clay Frick in charge of operations while he was gone. During this time Andrew Carnegie basically told Frick to do whatever it takes to settle it. By Giving Frick the power, Frick had decided instead of negotiating with the union that he wouldn 't and he closed the gates to about 3,800 workers. After a few weeks Frick hired about 1,700 scabs to work. After 95 days and a loss of 9 strikers and 7 pinkertons the union gave up and many people ended up getting their old job back with about a 22% wage deduction. After this Andrew Carnegie’s reputation for being a friend of the worker is ruined and now many do not think he is a friend of the worker anymore. Because the strikers lost, many steel companies cut their employees wages and labor unions were not recognized until the 1930’s which was an enormous setback for workers rights and freedoms. After this Andrew Carnegie kept underpaying his employees and they still had long hours. Carnegie 's employees usually worked 7 days a week and they would work 12 hour days and they would still make less that about $10 per

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