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Andrew Carnegie The Robber Baron Essay

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ANDREW CARNEGIE—THE ROBBER BARON Andrew Carnegie was one of the greatest of the tycoons of industry in the late nineteenth century, also being one of the greatest of the robber barons of the late nineteenth century. A Robber Baron is an owner of business who puts others down to gain fame and fortune. During a time of laissez faire, which is French for let alone, meaning government stays out of the business of others, any business owner could do whatever they wanted with their industry and workers—Carnegie took advantage of this by paying workers little salary and poor treatment. Some say that his past dictated what his future would be like—growing up poor meant others should grow up poor. With all of his money and power, he considered himself …show more content…

To help support his poor family, he immediately got a job as a bobbin boy, a person who gives and brings bobbins to the weavers at cotton mills, and then went from a delivery boy for the telegram service to the telegram operator, making more than twice the money as the bobbin boy. He then became the superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He invested in railroads and sleeping cars, making more than ten times the amount from his superintendent job. He decided to start a business called Keystone Bridge Company and started the process of building bridges from iron rather than wood. He made the Eads Bridge in St. Louis, Louisiana. He made the Carnegie Steel Company using the Bessemer process, dropping the steel price, allowing him to buy the rivaling Homestead Steel Works. He used the steel for railroads, making his superintendent job much easier and …show more content…

One way to explain this was that he treated his workers as slaves. He wanted to lower steel prices to seem more fair, but what the average person did not know was that to lower steel prices by twenty percent, he lowered workers' salaries by twenty percent. He, being so smart, should have known that fair treatment was fair. Most of the people he employed were in poverty and therefore could not buy a home, food, clothes, etcetera. He did not care, and he still did not care when his workers went on multiple strikes. Dangerous working conditions were commonly found in U. S. Steel's factories. People would get injured from harmful machinery and get sick from the bad air in circulation, which was ironic, because hid father was part of a union fighting for better working

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Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie’s was one of the most successful businessmen during America’s Age of Industrialization in the 1880’s. After the Civil War, he saw a future in having a career in the iron industry, and later on, decided to invest in the steel industry (PBS). Though Carnegie is most known for his contribution in the steel industry, he took part in a few other businesses as well. However, the Gilded Age is an era full of poverty and corruption hidden underneath the prosperous, wealthy nation, and the working conditions within Carnegie Steel Company were not much better than those in other factories (Resetar).

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Justification of this is seen in Document 3, as Andrew Carnegie writes, “The problem of our age is the proper administration of wealth so that the ties of brotherhood may still bind together the rich and poor in harmony.” Surely, a manipulative man would not believe in such fair distribution of wealth. Carnegie is also famous for large charitable donations, meaning his business methods were not enacted solely for his own benefit. This statement highlights Carnegie’s compassionate side and proves that he is not completely a “robber baron.” Similarly to Carnegie, Rockefeller’s compassionate side is also portrayed in Document 7.

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Just like the treatment his workers endured Carnegie wasn't any nicer to his competitors. Andrew Carnegie was a phenomenal businessman. Much of his success is due to how he operated his business. He watched the costs of his business intently (Document C), always making sure that the steel was being produced at a lower price than what it was being sold for (Document D), and he watched his competitors even closer. In March 1889, when Allegheny Bessemer Steel built a mill directly across from Carnegie's mill it intimidated Carnegie.

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Greed – the extreme, selfish desire to acquire what is beyond average necessities. Whether greed applies to wealth or power, mankind is prone to exemplify the cupidity. Humans may never become truly content with what they are given, allowing them to desire superfluous objects. The development of greed, as shown in repeated history, eventually leads to the ruination of characters, one particular character being Andrew Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie, the leader of the steel industry in the 19th century, epitomized the concept of greed by yearning for supplementary profits within his company; this greed greatly affected the lives of many, including Carnegie himself.

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The context of Andrew Carneige becoming a Robber Baron is the Industrial Revolution, because the industrialization is the explosion of factories and the mass production of consumer goods such as steel. The industrial revolution act set the economic foundation that allowed Andrew Carnegie to create the monopoly that is carnegie steel. Some will argue that Andrew Carnegie is a Captain of industry because in Document 9 he wanted to make sure the people had a good lifestyle, but the evidence supports he is a Robber Baron because he used his wealth for more money and he also didn’t show any humanization towards the people. In document 3 we talk about something called the Shrewd Businessman, in this document it says that Andrew Carnegie made

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Andrew Carnegie gave a large amount of his money to people all around the world, so he was more on the side of ¨earn and give.¨ He was charitable to the community, contributed to society, and built libraries around the world. Andrew Carnegie was very charitable to the community. For instance, he gave 360 million dollars to charities all around the world. Carnegie helped peopleś education by building universities accessible to all people during the ¨Great Depression.¨ During the late 1800s many people got sick and were injured, so Carnegie built a system of hospitals.

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The United States began to enter a prosperous and increasing period after the civil war known as industrialization. Despite the fact that industrialization led the United States to wealth, it also led it to many social and economic problems during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this time, Upton Sinclair and Andrew Carnegie were the people who responded to the economic and social problems generated by industrialization. Andrew Carnegie was one of the wealthy men in America and was very charitable, he impacted the United States with his steel to transform cities. During these economic and social problems generated by industrialization, he responded by providing money to fund charities.

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He looked into steel as at the time it was the strongest material ever made but he came across a problem, as it was very expensive and difficult to produce, and it was also only used for small items around that time like cutlery and jewelry. Carnegie had a vision for the future and his vision was mass produced steel. (Source 8) He invested in a new invention that had the ability to produce large steel structures, like the beams needed to build the bridge. (Source 3) The Eads Bridge was behind schedule and Carnegie was not able to pay back investors.

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Andrew Carnegie had opened his own ways to wind up distinctly a prosperous representative. From a youthful age, Carnegie conveyed the weight of supporting himself and his family, while working massively hard. Carnegie was conceived in Dunfermline, Scotland and lived in a little bungalow for the vast majority of his childhood (Document 1). From 1835 to 1848 Carnegie and his group of four, lived in the storage room of the cabin, which was over his dad's weaver's shop (Document 1). In 1897, Carnegie updated his living home office by obtaining the Skibo Castle in Dornoch Firth, Scotland.

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“Who is the richest American ever?”When asked this question, the name that most often come to mind is Bill Gates but the actual American to become the richest, most famous, influential and the most two-sided businessman at the time: Andrew Carnegie, hero or villain?. In order to answer that question we have to know what the words "hero” and "villain” actually mean. According to Webster Dictionary, a hero is a “person, especially a man admired for courage, nobility, or exploits, especially in war,” and "the central figure in any important event or period, honored for outstanding qualities.” or basically a role model who does good for a cause and has good morals while a villain is described as "someone or something regarded as the cause of

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When the question of what to do with our wealth is raised to us at the end of our lives we read Andrew Carnegies "Gospel of Wealth." Andrew Carnegie argues that there are only three ways in which one can pass on their wealth. Of these three different ways Andrew Carnegie argues that the way to pass down wealth that is most beneficial to society is when it is administered during the lives of the possessors. I agree with the basis of Carnegie denouncing passing on wealth from father to son, and when the possessors of wealth pass away. Also I agree with the notion that Carnegie believes the only effective way to pass on wealth is within the possessors lifetime.

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During the second Industrial Revolution, there were no movie stars, no superheroes or celebrities. During that time people looked to the business industry for a hero. A hero like Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie grew up poor, he worked from the age of twelve to make ends meet for his family (background). That’s just one reason Carnegie was a hero, because he came from nothing.

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In this essay, I’ll be telling you my opinion on whether Andrew Carnegie was a hero or not. Andrew Carnegie, known as the king of steel, grew up poor, but became one of the richest and most successful business owner during the 1800s and 1900s. Much of the world regarded Carnegie as the most famous living American during his time. Andrew Carnegie was not a hero because he showed off his money, treated his workers poorly, and was selfish. First of all, Andrew Carnegie flashes his wealth.

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The late nineteenth century was a pivotal moment in American history. During this time, the Industrial Revolution transformed the nation, railroads had dissipated all throughout the country, and economic classes began to form, separating the wealthy from the poor. One of the wealthiest men of this generation was Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant who fled to America to make millions off the railroad, oil and even steel businesses. Carnegie is considered one of the richest men in history, and even with all that wealth he decided to give back to the community. As a matter of fact, Carnegie donated most of his funds to charities, universities and libraries in his last few years.

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Carnegie was considered a Robber Baron for many reasons. For example, he gained huge profits because of his workers low wages. In the excerpt, “Who was Andrew Carnegie,” the author said, “his steel workers were often pushed to long hours and low wages.” Workers worked in harsh conditions and received no benefits causing them to live in poverty with scarce food, clothing, and shelter. Workers were tired of the low wages and decided to go on strike.

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