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Summary Of Andrew Carnegie's Wealth

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During the Gilded Age, Andrew Carnegie became a wealthy man due to his control over the manufacturing and distribution of steel. The Carnegie Steel Company and its use of vertical and horizontal integration allowed Carnegie to control the production and distribution of his steel, which made him into a wealthy industrialist (The New Tycoons 2014). In his article “Wealth”, Andrew Carnegie argues for the wealthy to give back their wealth to the community by providing “public institutions of various kinds … [to] improve the general condition of the people” (Foner 30). He uses this article to promote his Gospel of Wealth idea and provide his interpretation of the changing American society. Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth stated that “those who accumulated …show more content…

America was facing greater problems than just the gap between the rich and the poor. Agriculturalists in the South were not losing control of the distribution of their goods with the emergence of the railroad. Industrialists like Carnegie used the railroad to collect additional money from poor farmers who wanted to ship their goods to the market to be sold. The industrialists were getting rich because they were taking advantage of the poor, which Carnegie should have recognized, but failed to do so because he was one of the wealthy industrialists. As the industrialists built big corporations and railroads across America, they continued to amass wealth that could not be matched by the agricultural regions no matter how much money was provided to the farmers and poorer individuals of society. Carnegie could have discussed the reservations the poor had about the ability of some to become rich through industrialization and how they felt about his Gospel of Wealth. Did the poor really want money from the rich, who had control of many forces throughout the nation? Carnegie fails to provide a bias opinion on the divide between the rich and the poor because he is no longer poor. He expresses the faults in the wealthy hoarding their money for themselves, but continues to believe the wealthy should exist. The classifications of rich and poor also goes against Carnegie’s belief that the American society was changing into something new, when in reality they were adopting some of the old colonial ways like

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The response to poverty in the Gilded Age was the rich and the poor not being able to come to an agreement in response to those who can hardly make ends meet. Andrew Carnegie was one of the wealthiest men during the Gilded Age. Carnegie was not the best man to work for because he was against labor unions and approved using violence against his own employees. In “Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth” It talks about how the rich and the poor could come together if they had the “proper administration of wealth.” Carnegie thought it was better to build institutions instead of give to the poor because the strength of the mind and body will benefit the community while solving the problem between the rich and the poor.

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Andrew Carnegie and Samuel Gomper have different takes when it comes to the role that wealthy people should have in society. The two authors have opposed feelings toward the poor people being in the state of condition that they are in. Although their views are different what they are proposing in both documents can help the poor people. Carnegie’s The Gospel of Wealth focus more on what the wealthy people should do with their wealth to benefit the society.

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The captains of industry believed that the poor people were inferior to the rich people. The rich were superior because they had “wisdom, experience, and the ability to administer”. The duty of a rich person was to help out a poor person which was what was said in the Gospel of Wealth. The Gospel of Wealth is about how the rich person's responsibility is philanthropy. Carnegie believes in charity work so he would donate to libraries, and universities and schools and etc.

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In this composition, he addressed that the three ways for wealth to be distributed are give it to the family, use it for public service, or to administer it throughout the life of the possessor. (Wealth and Its Uses 31) He later goes on to explain that, “The only mode of producing lasting good by giving large sums of money is from the millionaire to give as close attention to its distribution during his life as he did to its acquisition” (Wealth and Its Uses 31). From all the uses that he listed, it is clear that he believed most strongly in giving large sums of money for the people. Carnegie used dedication and strategical thinking to build a fortune and use it to help others.

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At the end of the 19th Century, as the United States was experiencing rapid industrialization, a reconfiguration of the social order yielded opposing visions of social progress. Andrew Carnegie, wealthy businessman, and Jane Addams, founder of Chicago’s Hull House, put forward different methods to achieve such progress, where Addams focuses on creating social capital in a seemingly horizontal manner while Carnegie advocates for a top-down approach. While both of them seem to reap a sense of purpose from their attempts to improve the nation, their approaches vary depending on their vision of the composition of the population they want to uplift. First, Carnegie and Addams’ desire to improve society is partly self-serving. For Carnegie, improving society is the role of the wealthy man who, “animated by Christ’s spirit” (“Wealth”), can administer wealth for the community better than it could have for itself (“Wealth”).

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Labor leaders such as George E. McNeill treated the railroad president as “a railroad king.” (Doc B) Similarly, Andrew Carnegie established vertical integration in steel industries, and John Rockefeller accomplished both vertical and horizontal integration with his Standard Oil Trust. These businesses created a Victorian morality, further distancing the upper class from the working class. A firm believer in Social Darwinism, Carnegie directly addressed the widening wealth gap in his Gospel of Wealth. He promoted the use of philanthropy

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Carnegie thinks it is better to build public institutions than give charity to the poor because the poor need to have the “desire to improve” and find help in these public institutions. (Carnegie 30). He believes that rather wealthy “Men who continue hoarding great sums all their lives” can find the proper use for their money, which is to help the community. (Carnegie 29). By just giving money to the poor the wealthy are doing all their work and instead the poor should find the assistance they need to improve their lives.

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This caused unrest among the populace (Brinkley 477). In contrast, the wealthy viewed industrialization very positively (Brinkley 472-473). Andrew Carnegie, one of these millionaires, had a singular view on wealth, and his philosophy both stemmed from and influenced his actions during his life. Carnegie’s view of rampant capitalism and the class separation it caused was radically different from most the population.

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Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the largest steel company. Carnegie grew in a poor community but then migrated to Western Pennsylvania just to completely make a change in his life and later on being recognized as one of the wealthiest people in that era. In Carnegie’s testimonial, The Gospel of Wealth, we can observe his way of thinking in regards of the benefits farmers got from the rich people. Carnegie said that “Today the world obtains commodities of excellent quality at prices which even the preceding generation would have deemed incredible…” (Carnegie). He explained that there is no reason for others to criticize the privileges rich people get in comparison to those farmers get being that, farmers and poor people have now better opportunities than they had before, “The poor enjoy what the rich could not before afford.

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1988 Words | 8 Pages

Andrew Carnegie once said, “No man can become rich without himself enriching others” (Crazy Billionaires Speak: Motivational Quotes by Billionaires on Success, Business and Life 9). Many people associate Andrew Carnegie with his contributions to the economic world during his lifetime and future generations. However, he was also an inspiration to all, because he proved that a person living in tough times could ultimately strive and attain his/her utmost success. Additionally, Carnegie is the embodiment of the American Dream, because he is known as one of the greatest industrialists of his time who grew economically from rags to riches. He strived to achieve world peace and inspired others to follow his footsteps.

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As the document B provide us with a review of North America Review, June 1889 titled “Wealth” by Andrew Carnegie. In this document we can analyze the ways of how wealth is disposed the first is keep it for your descendants, being this a wrong way to educate your children giving wealth without having worked to achieved, the second way is the leaving it for public uses after your death, but he criticized this by “Why should a man wait until his dead before he becomes of much good in the world?”, and the last one is the one he praise of set an example of “modest, living and to produce the most beneficial result for the community” By this he explain and implement a new model of use of wealth in the world for the common good making donations and improving

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605 Words | 3 Pages

Underpinnings and Effectiveness of Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth” In Andrew Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth”, Carnegie proposed a system of which he thought was best to dispose of “surplus wealth” through progress of the nation. Carnegie wanted to create opportunities for people “lift themselves up” rather than directly give money to these people. This was because he considered that giving money to these people would be “improper spending”.

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1696 Words | 7 Pages

One of the many Gospel of Wealth advocates was Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919, who was an industrialist who emigrated from Scotland to American in 1848 (Wall, ANBO). Carnegie’s “Wealth” written in 1889

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In this text, he makes a valid argument as to why the rich should administer their own wealth unto those with less fortune. He begins his argument by explaining how wealth has revolutionized the United States. Carnegie mentions how the Sioux chief's wigwam was similar in appearance when compared to the huts of those inferior to him, and then compares this to the differences in economic classes of the 1800s. Carnegie later states how the very definition of wealth has changed throughout the years, where the poorest farmer of the 1860s owns more luxuries than the landlord of just a few years prior. Carnegie includes these two facts because he wants to show how much society has progressed throughout the last few hundred years.

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During the late 19th century, there was a growth in industrialization. This brought new opportunities for the poor and the rich. For example, Carnegie helped build the steel industry in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, which made him one of the richest man in the world. As Carnegie gained more wealth, he questioned who money should be given to. Carnegie was both a Robber Baron and a Captain of Industry.

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