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Andrew carnegie robber baron deeds
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George McNeil and Andrew Carnegie were very opinionated people. According to George McNeil a railroad president was exactly like a king, sultan, and shah. The president had the power to control wages and the hours of the workers. President also had power over the courts and the laws. A true president has a body of people under him regulation their power.
Name of Industrialist: Andrew Carnegie (Steel Company) How did he acquire his wealth? Carnegie frequently recognized as one of the wealthiest person ever. He made big bucks from oil business. He also led the growth of the American steel company in the late 19th century.
The late 19th century was full of growth, production, and business. People were craving power and seemed to achieve this through any means necessary. Consequently, a new business elite formed consisting of the richest men alive. The way in which these individuals acquired all their profits is something very contradictory even over one-hundred years later. Some historians characterize these businessmen as “robber barons” who used extreme methods to control and concentrate wealth and power, and being supported by multiple sources, this statement is justified but only to some extent.
To start, Andrew Carnegie revolutionized steel production in the U.S as he used methods that were faster and easier to make steel, but Andrew Carnegie would have been nothing if it was not for his workers. Carnegie tried to lower his employees’ wages and he is just swindling his workers that, no offense, are poor because they are working for a steel company that have to lower their wages. One incident happened in 1892 when employees in Homestead went on strike after Carnegie tried to lower their wages. In document 3, the author states,” When the company tried to lower wages at a Carnegie steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania, the employees objected”(Doc, 3). Carnegie tried to deprive his employees’ of their wages for himself.
Did you know Andrew Carnegie earned $92,000 everyday while his workers earned a measly $1.50? Andrew Carnegie grew up poor. At twelve he left school and began working to help support his family. He worked 12 hour days for $1.20 a week at a textile mill. He then began delivering telegrams for $4 a week.
A captain of industry can be defined as ¨a business leader whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributed positively to the country in some way.” Andrew Carnegie was an ideal representation of a captain of industry, he was born poor, yet he rose the ranks and became a successful businessman who dedicated his fortune to good causes. Due to his success and innovation in the steel industry and his benevolent donations, Andrew Carnegie was a prosperous businessman who benefited lives across America. Andrew Carnegie furthered the steel industry and brought forward new innovations that advanced technology and market shares for generations. Not only did Carnegie develop technologies, he helped forge new business models.
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.
“What if the proper mode of administering wealth after the laws (of survival of the fittest) upon which civilization have thrown it into the hands of the few?” (Doc. B - Andrew Carnegie) Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American, self-made entrepreneur who from the age of 24 was motivated and well to do. He was, from the start, always trying to find ways to make money. Finally, he found out a way to make steel that was stronger, more durable, and cheaper.
The distribution of wealth has always been a conflict of interest between those in an industrial society. Many times, we find the all the poor being grouped as oppressed, and all the rich being grouped as oppressive. But this is not the most accurate way of thinking. We see Andrew Carnegie as part of the rich being grouped as oppressive, or a villain. Given the fact that he saw his success in the height of the American Era of Industrialization, Carnegie got a lot of backlash for the issues surrounding the poor that worked for him.
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.
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.
Andrew Carnegie was a “robber baron” as shown in the way he acted towards the people who helped him reach the top and the terrible working environment that he subjected his workers to. He did various things in an attempt at overshadowing the awful things he did and positively alter his public image. His mentor, Thomas Scott, taught him the skills he would use to become the undisputed king of steel. Costs were the most important aspect of any business and reducing those required cutting wages, demanding 13 hour days and utilizing spies as a way to thwart possible strikes. Many years after Carnegie had gone out on his own, Scott met with him thinking that the years they spent together and all he had taught him would unquestionably result in help in his time of trouble.
Carnegie is not a hero because he took money, only gave to other wealthy recipients, and contributed largely to his own. Andrew Carnegie took money away from deserving people. Carnegie cut the wages of his workers to donate money elsewhere. In document D, there are two images of Carnegie, one is giving a wage cut notice to the workers and the other is giving a check to Scotland and donating a library to Pittsburg. Carnegie’s employees were working hard and trying to survive in a tough economy, their wages did not deserve a cut.
In the past, there have been many influential economic figures in the industrial business industry. Andrew Carnegie is one of the most famous of these figures but not just in a business scheme, but also in an economic and national scheme. Andrew Carnegie is a business man that caused a major controversial issue to arise; the topic of being labeled a Robber Baron or a Captain of Industry by the public. A Robber Baron is someone who has become wealthy through heartless and unethical business actions that will only benefit the individual. On the other hand, a Captain of Industry is a business leader who has become rich by accomplishing activities that will, overall, benefit the people of the community such as expanding a market or providing more jobs.
In the following quote from the Homestead strike reading is a reflection of what happened, “The Battle at Homestead will be remembered as an occasion where human greed and civil rights collided and neither one came out on top” The Homestead strike made the Industrial Revolution more harmful because it lost many lives that didn’t need to be lost. Carnegie company was one of the richest ever and it couldn’t afford to give poor men and women a small pay raise. Also, they created a horrible situation by sending in the Pinkertons to do their dirty work. The amazing thing is that Frick had a huge mansion ten miles away but he still had to starve families.
