Portrait Of America Chapter Summaries

Portrait of America In reading Portrait of America, there are many descriptive chapters about individuals who helped shape The United States of America. Not only did the examples range from Presidents, to successful business people, they also included an everyday aspect of citizens or even soldiers. While it was a useful tool for understanding the good side, and how the nation felt about a person or major historical event, it was also useful for exposing the bad and the ugly side. Having this nontraditional knowledge helped to make the book a worthwhile read. However, it posed an added level of difficulty in discerning what was read. As well as how it would translate to content that becomes useful knowledge in other circumstances, such as

However, the book describes individuals throughout the nation’s history that had to work their way from ‘rags to riches’ as Horatio Alger called it. An example of a person who helped shape America, by working his way up the ladder is found in chapter 5, which is about Andrew Carnegie. Andrew Carnegies first job paid $1.20 a week. Paling in comparison to the value of his estate, which, at his death, was estimated to be worth about five hundred million dollars, according to the book. Many believed that anyone could be successful, if they worked at it. Carnegie worked hard for his money. However, the book was sure to include any of his faults, even describing how poorly his workers were treated. The book did state that his workers were treated generally better than what was common at the time, but was sure to inform the reader that Carnegie was a human, and had faults, too. “We see the unequal struggle between a man who loved money…and a man who, at the bottom, was ashamed of himself for his acquisitive desires” (53). The book did give the reader many positive attributes of Carnegie, an example being his philanthropy, “...managed to give away 90 percent of his wealth before he died” (59). Similarly, to Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller was a very successful businessman in the history of America. In comparison, Rockefeller too, came from a family that was poor at best. Portrait of America also told the

At the time, it was irregular for women to plan to “become an independent, professional woman” (72). Ida was a rarity at that time; she was the only female in her entire graduating class at Allegheny College. While she had a positive impact on the reform of the governing of monopolies such as Standard Oil, many at the time may have seen, including the president, her in more of a negative light. “Although he knew and befriended many of the magazine’s writers, including Tarbell, President Theodore Roosevelt publicly complained that these journalists focused only upon society’s evils” (73). The reader is given the facts about Ida, both good and bad, which helped formulate an opinion that gave a valuable historical