The American Dream In The 1900's

Rise Above

The American dream is constantly changing with time and has many different meanings and varies for everyone. For some, it may mean gaining freedom, or becoming as successful as possible, or even trying to make a difference in the world. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, big business leaders such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry Ford achieved their idea of the American dream by doing whatever it took to become successful, while giving back to the community in the end. John D. Rockefeller was one of the most successful Americans in his time, and he had to climb an extremely long ladder to get to the top. He began his life in a rural setting where he learned the value of working hard which helped him a great deal

Carnegie, at the age of 13, was immediately put to work in a, “...cotton mill, carrying bobbins to the workers at the looms and earning $1.20 per week”(Andrew Carnegie’s Story). With no money, Carnegie’s main source of education came from reading many books. After working his first few jobs, Carnegie acquired many skills which later helped him land a job as a superintendent with the Pennsylvania Railroad at the age of 24. Carnegie soon began rolling in bigger money when he took the risk of mortgaging his home in order to invest in a company. These risks eventually paid off and with more money, he learned to, “...never indorse until you have cash means not required for your own debts, and never indorse beyond those means”(Carnegie). Similar to Rockefeller, Carnegie believed in living within your means unless you had enough money to pay cash. From a poor immigrant at a very young age, Carnegie quickly became the wealthiest man in history to this

In the beginning of his business career, Carnegie wrote a letter to himself explaining his future to, “...resign from business at age 35 and live on an income of $50,000 per year, devoting the remainder of his money to philanthropic causes”(Andrew Carnegie’s Story). Even though he ended up retiring at the age of 66, he did follow through with the idea of donating a large portion of his money. Carnegie had all the money in the world but did not know what to do with it. He then decided that the most obvious thing to do with his fortunes was to help make the world a better place. In deciding what to do with his money, he exclaimed, “It was from my own early experience that I decided there was no use to which money could be applied so productive... as the founding of a public library”(Andrew Carnegie’s Story). As a kid growing up with hardly any money, the only way he was able to become educated was thanks to a local public library: public libraries were very rare at the time. Because of this, a lot of his money was dedicated to founding 2,509 libraries all around the world. Over one thousand of these libraries were built in the United States and are still standing today. Carnegie believed that with access to free books, and the desire to learn, anyone could become just as successful as