Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie was born November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland to William and Margaret Morrison Carnegie. His father, William was a hand loom weaver and his mother, Margaret was a tanner and shoemaker. His family was impoverished, however they raised Andrew with culture and a political education. With the creation of powered looms, William Carnegie was forced to either go to work in the mills or look for work elsewhere. He chose to immigrate to the United States. In May of 1848 Andrew and his family set sail on the Wiscasset, which was a former whaling ship. Sailing from Scotland to New York, they ended up settling in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (which is present day Pittsburg’s northside neighborhoods). It was there …show more content…
It was called The Homestead Strike and was one of the most serious in U.S. History. The dispute occurred between the National Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers of the U.S. and the Carnegie Steel Company. Before the strike peaked, Carnegie left the country and took a trip to Scotland leaving his partner, Henry Clay Frick to deal with the matter. The company had tried to cut the wages of the skilled steel workers, and when the workers refused the pay cut, the management locked the union out. Thousands of strikebreakers were brought in to work and Pinkerton agents were brought in to keep them safe. On July 6th, 300 Pinkerton agents from New York City and Chicago arrived in Pennsylvania. A fight started and 10 men-7 strikers and 3 Pinkertons- were killed and hundreds were injured. The governor of Pennsylvania had to send two brigades of militia to stop the strike. When the strike ended, the company resumed operations with non-union immigrants and Carnegie returned to the United States. (NWE.org 2016) I personally think this was kind of a low thing for Carnegie to do, leaving the country with his company in disarray and then coming back home when all the dust settled. During 1893-1897, there was a great slump in economic demand. Carnegie realized that if he capitalized during a slump, his costs would be lower, and profits would be higher. When prices hit rock bottom, he upgraded his entire operation with the latest and greatest steel mills. When the demand picked back up, he made a fortune. Carnegie Steel’s profits were $40 million with $25 million being his share. (NWE.org