Andrew Carnegie is one of the more controversial people in history. Carnegie grew up in poverty, making $1.20 per week, and worked his way up through a mix of hard work, wit, charisma, and luck to become the richest man alive. Carnegie is a classic rags-to-riches story and he viewed his success as a direct result of his work ethic. He truly believed that anyone could be successful if they tried hard enough and that when one had the means, one should use those means to help those in need. Carnegie made his millions and retired to a life of philanthropy. He gave away over $350 million dollars to charities, organizations, and those in need. But, on his way to great wealth, his own workers suffered through horrid working conditions and low wages. …show more content…
With one hand he was throwing money at those in poverty, and with the other, he was lowering his own worker’s wages. Those that received his generosity were thankful and loved him, while those that were suffering through harsh conditions and low wages were angry with him. The cartoons about Andrew Carnegie show the working man’s anger toward him. They show him throwing money and libraries at people, but also show him taking money from his own workers, who he should have been protecting. The cartoon by Joesph Keppler shows large men in a courtroom representing different industries, towering over the small men who are the people’s elected representatives. This cartoon shows the corruption of the government at the time and how the people’s opinion mattered very little and how money trumped all else. All of the cartoons were created while the events were occurring and were shared with the public to acknowledge the things that were happening and to share their opinion of them. The point of view or bias is the same for several of the cartoons. Many of the cartoon’s authors were supportive of the working man and lived through the strikes and events that occurred with Andrew Carnegie or were directly affected by them. These people would be biased in their views because they were negatively affected by the outcomes of Carnegie’s decisions or his manager’s decisions. They also wrote these cartoons in protest of the bad conditions …show more content…
This essay put into words the beliefs that Carnegie had. The essay expands on Carnegie’s core belief in hard work and giving back. He believed that the wealthy should help the less fortunate as much as they can and they should set an example of modest living. Carnegie growing up in poverty gave him the perspective few rich people had. He lived the life of the poor and, when he was able, wanted to improve lives and make them better than his childhood. But Carnegie did not just hand out bundles of money. The essay says, “In bestowing charity, the main consideration should be to help those who will help themselves,” meaning that, essentially, you should help people so they can help themselves. There is a saying, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but teach that man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” This was Carnegie’s vision. However, “The Gospel of Wealth” was a biased source. Carnegie wrote this essay to inspire people, motivate them to work hard, and live frugally. Carnegie was a hard worker and intelligent and he credited that to his rise through the ranks that eventually led to his fortune. It is possible that he never considered how much luck played into his
In document B, we can see an article that Carnegie himself wrote, in June of 1889, where he states “(why should a man) wait until he is dead before he becomes of much good in the world?” He shows here not only his desire to help the world before he dies, but his aspiration that others do the same. He also expresses in the same article “The man who dies rich dies disgraced.” He again here exemplifies his want for the wealthy to do good for communities with their finances. These pieces of evidence show Carnegie not only wanted to make sure he was giving back, but that other affluent people were
I agree with Andrew Carnegie’s decision to donate and invest his accumulated wealth in the public because it is the most useful and beneficial way to spend his wealth. Moreover, I believe that distributing the money to relatives or keeping the money to oneself does not sufficiently utilize the money. By donating and investing in the public, a majority of the money can be spent on necessities for the general public, rather than spending the money on a single person. In other words, Andrew Carnegie’s decision to donate and invest in the general public benefits significantly more people than it would if he were to give it to relatives or keep it to himself. Furthermore, I believe that withholding the money to oneself is unrightful in the sense
Andrew Carnegie was known as one of the most influential men of the late nineteenth century. He was known for moving along the industrial revolution and giving back to the people. Although he grew up with some hardships, he still was able to grow up and become one of the richest people in the world. Once he had a handle on the industry he built he reduced production and selling costs. He sold his company and donated his money to the people.
Andrew Carnegie By some means, Andrew Carnegie journeyed from being penniless to becoming one of the most wealthiest man to exist (McGuire). By getting himself into the metal industry, Andrew Carnegie became a captain of industry who helped to make America strong. In the first place, The metal industry’s most popular iron and and steal, promised Carnegie a future brimful of wealth and success (Kohn).
Carnegie didn’t get his money honestly sometimes, and didn’t care if the people didn’t like how he did things, because how he was doing things made him money. Carnegie didn’t treat his workers well, and docked their pay constantly, so he could turn around and donate libraries and money to paint himself as a philanthropist. To prove this, “he didn’t always follow the rules or treat people kindly”, meaning he would dock his workers pay, and have really dangerous working conditions just so he could make more money. This proves that Carnegie cared about making money more than anything else, but that also meant making lives harder for his workers.
As stated in Carnegie’s book, “Wealth”, Carnegie firmly believed that “The man who dies rich, dies disgraced”. By this, Carnegie means that if you don’t give money to a good cause, you aren’t repaying your debt to society. Carnegie also emphasizes how the rich should “throw”, or in other words, give money to the poor by being a charitable person. Another example of Carnegie;s influence is when he states “(Why should a man) wait until he is dead before he becomes of much good in the world?”. To put simply, Carnegie was a mass influencer/promoter of philanthropy, and he donated all of his money while he was alive because he thought he would make an impact while he was living to do “much good in the world”.
Andrew Carnegie was a poor man growing up. He started with a house that cost 20 dollars to rent, and throughout his life, he had to work his way up the social ladder and eventually ended up living in mansions and castles. Carnegie used a business practice he invented called vertical integration, which lowered costs and effectively made better quality products. Carnegie was a well respected boss and provided equal pay for
A hero in disguise, a philanthropist at heart, Andrew Carnegie was one of the richest and most successful businessmen in America in the 19th century. Andrew was born November 25th, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland then later moved to America, when he was 13, where he worked a series of jobs involving telegraphing and railroad construction. Carnegie, being the mastermind he was, clawed his way out of poverty with hard work and determination into a life of riches when he founded his own steel production company, Carnegie Steel Company, in 1889. As illustrated in Andrew Carnegie’s “Wealth” in the North American Review, he said that you could go from being dirt poor to filthy rich only with a changing civilization and also with hard work, which is
The toughest time of Andrew Carnegie’s life led to one of the happiest
Carnegie believed in laissez-faire capitalism, but if the law ensured the survival of the fittest, then let the government's laws interfere (Doc 2). In addition, Carnegie argued that it was shameful for the wealthy to utilize their wealth to advance society while they were still alive, as opposed to the widespread practice of leaving all of one's wealth to one's successors. He believed that the duty of wealth should be used to set examples of modest living and produce beneficial results for the community. (Doc
Despite Carnegie’s difficult beginning, he became a determined and intelligent person. From an early age, Carnegie saw his father lose his money and dignity as a result of not being able to keep up with the rapid changes
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.
He believed that if the wealthy don't give back some of their profits to the community, they are living a dishonorable life, and although I didn't necessarily agree with this radical viewpoint at first, I now am a firm believer in Carnegie's argument about wealth.
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.
Carnegie’s views on the treatment of his workers are one of the things that he did that are considered unethical. For instance, during America’s depression in the early 1800’s, Carnegie’s workers were repeatedly asked to work long hours for little play; many unions resisted, particularly in the Homestead Strike of 1892. In the Homestead Strike, workers were angry about pay cuts and Carnegie’s