Preview

Was Andrew Carnegie a Hero?

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
351 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Was Andrew Carnegie a Hero?
Was Andrew Carnegie a Hero?

Would you want to work long hours in a factory for little pay? No? I didn’t think so. This is just one of the many reasons that many people considered Andrew Carnegie to not only be a robber baron, but also a villain. Two-faced, hypocritical, uncaring; these were just some of the words that were used to describe Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie was not a hero because of his money consciousness, poor treatment to workers, and his robber-baron tactics.

Andrew Carnegie was not a hero because of his money consciousness. Carnegie never let up on his watch on costs throughout all of his years in the steel industry (Doc 3). Carnegie was a person that believed that you should know your monthly income. He liked to keep track of his earnings, and make sure that he was not losing any money. Carnegie would cut costs just to make a profit.

Carnegie was not a person who treated his workers fairly. Most, if not all, of Carnegie’s workers earned less than two dollars a day, whereas Carnegie earned about $92,000 a day (Doc 7). Some of Carnegie’s workers were beaten and threatened. The working conditions in his factories were terrible and unsafe. Carnegie exploited his workforce, and then gave away his money the less fortunate to salve his troubled conscience. Carnegie rendered his money to people other than his workers to appease his “integrity”.

Andrew Carnegie did all he could to stay on top. He used vertical integration to acquisition all other companies that tried to run against him and failed (Doc 5). Andrew Carnegie believed in Social Darwinism (Doc 2). Carnegie believed in pre-determination, which meant that you would only become rich if you were supposed to.

In conclusion, Andrew Carnegie was not a hero because of his philanthropy and his circle of wealth, but a villain because of said reasons. Carnegie only cared about his money, even though he attempted to make it seem like he did not. Andrew Carnegie was not a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    American hero Andrew Carnegie owned the biggest steel industry during the gilded age. Andrew Carnegie was a millionaire by the time he is thirteen years old, as he rose from poverty and built his steel industry with great demand for low wages, poor working conditions, and harsh treatment of his workers. Andrew Carnegie was one of the wealthiest men in his lifetime, but gave away all his money several years before his death.…

    • 302 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Prior Knowledge: Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, entrepreneur and a major philanthropist. Carnegie was born in Scotland, and migrated to the United States as a child with his parents. His first job in the United States was as a factory worker in a bobbin factory. Later on he became a bill logger for the owner of the company. Soon after, he became a messenger boy. Eventually he progressed up the ranks of a telegraph company. He built Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, which was later merged with Elbert H. Gary's Federal Steel Company and several smaller companies to create U.S. Steel. With the fortune he made from business among others he built Carnegie Hall, later he turned to philanthropy and interests in education, such as finding the Carnegie Corporation of New York and other educational institutions named after him. Carnegie donated most of his money to establish many libraries, schools, and universities in America, the United Kingdom and other countries, as well as a pension fund for former employees. He is often regarded as the second-richest man in history after John D. Rockefeller.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Andrew Carnegie being a true villain is a near complete and utter fact, whilst him being a hero is blasphemy. He wanted wealth and fame, and chose not to support others unless they were on his ground or were earning him lots of money. He showed barely any respect to anybody, let alone the respect of the people who worked for him and were the reason as to why he is so rich. He knocked people down and ruined their lives as workers and human beings. Heroes do not perform such horrific actions towards their people, and the people that they are attempting to save. Andrew Carnegie was a villain, destroying and ruining lives in order to evolve the Bessemer process into something bigger for the American people. He spent money from the pain of others for his own wealth, which today, would be shown as terrible and this person would most likely be shunned by most of the…

    • 1218 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    I think that There are Two Sides to Every Hero. Carnegie had courage to do whatever it took and in his later life he had concern for others because he gave away all his money. Although, he lacked integrity because in his working years he only cared about himself and his money. This is still important because he as a big part of our history believe it or not. Heroism is also a big part in our lives because who doesn’t have a hero and it’s always around us in some shape or form. Honestly, you don’t have to care what I think because you may think that Andrew Carnegie was a horrible person and that’s fine because it’s your point of view a hero can have different qualities it’s all up to you it’s your hero not…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb a little”. Andrew Carnegie was believed to be a captain of industries. Carnegie grew up to be the wealthiest business men in America. Andrew Carnegie is and always will be a captain of industry.…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Andrew CARNEGIE

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Andrew Carnegie was both a Robber Baron and a Captain of Industry. Growing up as an immigrant, who started with nothing at all, he became greedy with his money. He was a big business leader who builds up the community but treated his workers poorly. Carnegie created thousands of jobs for people but did not provide his workers with safety equipment and had many of them work in dangerous conditions. He helped out the community in many ways but still treated his workers/people poorly.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Andrew Carnegie got a job at a local cotton factory with his father. His wage was little over a dollar. (Carnegie, 1919) His perseverance to improve his position in the company was one of his many positive attributes that helped…

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Andrew Carnegie’s views on wealth compared to the view of an average coal miner differ. Carnegie is the ultimate “rags to riches” story. As a young boy, Carnegie worked with Thomas A. Scott, his mentor, and through hard work, he became one of the richest men in history. However, money wasn’t everything to him. On the other hand, the average coal miners were in constant danger. They worked with the constant fear that they can be killed by “burning gas” or “crushed by cars.” However, the average coal miner’s pay varied from “$1.25 to $1.25.”…

    • 235 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He was a ‘hero’ in the sense that he gave away most of his money to establish many libraries, schools, and universities in America, the UK and other countries, as well as establish a pension fund for former employees.Carnegie felt that money is like manure, i.e., it does no good unless you spread it around. Aside from his well-known steel business that he sold to J.P. Morgan who formed US Steel, the philanthropic qualities of the man are most remembered. As Andrew Carnegie himself said on the subject of wealth: “Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community.”,“There is no class so pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else.”“I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution.”…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Andrew Carnegie History

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Carnegie is most widely known for his monopolization of the steel industry. He developed numerous companies to support the need for steel in the developing United States. He foresaw that following the Civil War steel was going to be an important part of American life. He decided that it would be a smart idea to invest in the developing industry and that decision paid off enormously. (Amer. Exp.) He worked to modernize the United States through the building of bridges, railroads, and other vital roadways, which in turn brought the country together. By 1900, Carnegie Steel Juggernaut produced more steel, than all of Great Britain.…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This quote shows the author’s point that Andrew Carnegie was a wise man used his experiences to better benefit his companies.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish native that emigrated to Allegheny, Pennsylvania when he was a young boy. Through rigorous work, reading, and dedication Andrew Carnegie became one of the wealthiest men in history. In this autobiography Andrew Carnegie explains the story of being an immigrant who goes through numerous obstacles and struggles, however, rises to the top. Carnegie’s autobiography is moving and extremely powerful for being one of the first of its kind in the 1900s. He starts as a telegrapher and with hard work and complete devotion to being the best, becomes the captain of industry and steel magnate.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Carnegie had the skills to be a successful business man. Even from a young age, he worked as hard as he could to support his family. Pictures from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (Document A) shows where Carnegie was born in Scotland. He lived in a small cottage with his family and resided in the attic from 1835 to 1848. The following picture displays the grand and luxurious Skibo Castle that Carnegie purchased in 1897. In about less than half a century, Carnegie became rich after living in poverty. Heroes have an extraordinary capability that few others possess and for Carnegie, his capabilities lied in the world of business. However, just because of that, it doesn’t make one a hero. In addition to that, heroes do not take advantage of their skill to benefit only themselves. It is apparent in Carnegie’s article for the North American Review, “Wealth” in June of 1889 (Document B) that he sincerely believed that business being in the hands of few was a beneficial thing. It is not that he did not care about his workers at all and purposefully tried to take advantage of their labor, he really believed that good came out of the rise of the wealthy. He says, “(I)t is to this law (of competition) that we owe our wonderful material development, … while the law may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it insure the survival of the fittest in every department”. Carnegie truly thought that those who work hard and…

    • 689 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the time period after the Civil War and nearing the twentieth century, America’s economy was in prime position to be molded – all America needed was someone to come along to mold it. Businesspersons like Cornelius Vanderbilt and entrepreneurs like John D. Rockefeller were prime examples of exactly whom America needed to take charge of the economy at this time; however, there was one man who was not only a self-made steel tycoon and one of the wealthiest 19th century U.S. businessmen, but a humanitarian as well. This charitable captain of industry was none other than Mr. Andrew Carnegie – who transformed himself from a young Scottish immigrant to a corporate leader and philanthropist whose name still echoes prominently throughout American society today. Although plagued by devastating events in his past, Andrew Carnegie was a captain of industry because of his smart investments and, ultimately, a philanthropist because of his selfless acts. Before owning the world’s largest steel corporation, Andrew Carnegie was a mere messenger boy for a telegraph office. It was at the telegraph office where Thomas A. Scott took a liking to Carnegie. After many years of working closely under Scott and moving up the ranks, Carnegie became superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad and Scott’s right hand man. Scott later gave Carnegie the task of connecting the East to the West by way of a bridge that crossed the Mississippi. On a hunt for a material that could withstand the rapid waters, Carnegie came across steel – a radically new substance that was more flexible than iron so it could handle the harsh tidewaters of the Mississippi. By the time the bridge was complete, Carnegie knew he had stumbled upon something. This new material could entirely revolutionize the building process. Carnegie may not have known the importance of what he discovered, but steel was about to become the center of Andrew Carnegie’s whole world and…

    • 786 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Captains of Industry

    • 421 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-born American businessman, a major philanthropist, and the founder of the Carnegie Steel Company which later became US Steel. He is known for having built one of the most and influential corporation in United States history. Carnegie stood out from other business titan as a thinker who fashioned and publicized a philosophy for big business, a conventional rationale that became deeply implanted in the conventional wisdom of some Americans. He believed that , however harsh their methods at times, he and other "Captains of Industry" were on the whole public benefactors. When he retired Andrew Carnegie devoted himself to dispensing his fortune for the public, out of…

    • 421 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Good Essays