Andrew Carnegie's Use Of Capitalism During The Second Industrial Revolution

During the second industrial revolution, capitalism was being exploited in a number of different ways. One major problem of this time was the uneven distribution of wealth. The rich held a large percentage of the nation’s money while the poor and working class struggled to stay afloat and were never able to save enough to become small business owners. Rich aristocrats used exploitive techniques to gain wealth and sabotage smaller companies. Some of these techniques include vertical integration, horizontal integration, manipulation of the working class, and many scandals. This essay will attempt to analyze and discuss the ways tycoons and corporations could be exploitative without government intervention. One of the main ways capitalism could be seen as exploitative

Carnegie was known to be a great businessman but also a cruel, strict boss. He exploited the working class to gain huge profits. He later wrote an article titled “Gospel of Wealth” in which he says there is nothing wrong with making fortunes. His views were very similar to Social Darwinism which used the “survival of the fittest” theory as an attempt to justify actions of the rich. In addition, Carnegie used vertical integration to expand his company. Vertical integration is a tactic where a company, in this case Carnegie Steel Company, buys out all of the steps in the creation of a product. For example, Carnegie could acquire the materials and ship them without going through another company. This allowed him to sell his steel much cheaper than competitors who had to pay others for all the steps in production. As a result, smaller companies were put out of business, allowing Carnegie to hold a monopoly on steel. This makes capitalism seem exploitative because it uses a group of people for profit (the working class) and deprives the market of healthy