The Gilded Age
Andrew Carnegie - Philanthropist
History
20
Nabila Insanali
During the Gilded Age,
New York was the epicenter for industrialization, urbanization, and wealth. The
Gilded Age took place in the 19th century, and consisted of many
significant aristocrats that helped shape the wealth, poverty, and politics in
New York. Andrew Carnegie was a philanthropist, commonly referred to as the
captain of industry due to his monopoly in steel. The road to Andrew Carnegie’s
success greatly impacted the United States during the Industrial Revolution. He
revolutionized the way things are done today in business, philanthropy, and
architecture.
As an immigrant from
Scotland, he arrived in America when it was known as a land of agriculture, and
thanks to the contributions of him and many others, America then transformed
into an era of industry and commerce. Carnegie
has greatly impact our economy and influenced our decisions as leaders,
educators and business men.
Andrew
Carnegie was a Scottish immigrant, who migrated to the United States when he
was thirteen years old with his poor parents and settled in Pennsylvania. His acquired
his first job that same year which was working in a cotton mill where he earned
$1.20 per week. Later on in his life he began work as a telegrapher and always
worked to the best of his ability. He had a longing for obtaining knowledge and
took advantage of every opportunity that crossed his path. While working in the
telegraph office, he met with a man named Thomas A. Scott who employed him as a
private secretary and telegrapher at Pennsylvania Railroad, and began the
series of events that led up to Carnegie’s steel tycoon (Meltzer 1997,
Karwatka 12)
Carnegie
embarked on his career working in the Pennsylvania Railroad at the same time
the Civil War had officially begun. However, Carnegie felt a calling toward the
steel industry and did a risky but bold thing and quit his job at the railroad
company to invest in the steel industry. The Industrial Revolution was upon the
nation and the demand for reliable transportation led to Carnegie venturing to
the steel industry. Carnegie formed the Keystone Bridge Company which is soon
where he built his first steel plant and worked to replace wooden bridges with
iron ones for more strength and support. Carnegie saw the future in the steel
industry and hired worked he believed could help him change the steel industry
and advance the nation and in 1892 he formed Carnegie Steel Company.
Andrew
Carnegie’s efforts to drive down the costs of steel and increase production revolutionized
steel fabrication in the United States.
In addition, it also made steel more accessible and affordable to the
nation. He built plants around the country,
using technology and methods that made manufacturing steel easier, faster and
more productive. For every step of the process, he owned exactly what he
needed: the raw materials, ships and railroads for transporting the goods, and
even coal fields to fuel the steel furnaces (Carnegie 2007). Cheap and efficient mass production of
steel was what led to his monopoly of steel production. He is notoriously known
for overworking workers and underpaying them. In effort to make enormous
profits, he ruthlessly cut wages and increased hours. Carnegie also used a strategy
called the Bessemer process for steel making which was an inexpensive way of
producing steel from molten pig. The need for and use of steel
skyrocketed. Steel was being used for
bridges, skyscrapers, railroads and much more to benefit our nation.
His
work in the steel industry earned him title of the world's richest man at age
66. With this new status Andrew Carnegie
wanted to become a philanthropist, a person who gives money to good causes. “He
[strongly] believed in the "Gospel of Wealth," which meant that
wealthy people were morally obligated to give their money back to others in
society” (American Library)
Even
though Carnegie share his wealth by making charitable donations before his
retirement, giving his money away became his new quest. One way he made his money useful was the
founding of the Carnegie Institution to fund scientific research to various
areas. He also felt that the educators
of this country made great sacrifices and contribution and as a result he
rewarded them by established a pension fund with a $10 million donation (Meltzer
1997).
Andrew
Carnegie’s love for reading was greatly influenced by his childhood experience
and by Colonel James Anderson who allowed the working boys to use his library
freely. His memory of Colonel Anderson's
generosity influenced his support for education. This cherished memory motivated him to give
money to various towns and cities to build more than 2,000 public libraries and
over $125 million to a foundation called the Carnegie Corporation to aid
colleges and schools educate the American public (American Library).
World
peace was another notable cause that Carnegie supported. “He established the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace and funded the building of The Hague Palace of Peace, which
houses the World Court, in the Netherlands.
In a span of 12 years, Carnegie had given away about 90 percent of his
fortune to notable and worthy causes.
Andrew
Carnegie is remembered as a self-made steel tycoon and one of the wealthiest
19th century U.S. businessmen.
Carnegie
became the dominant force in the industry, a great innovator, and an
exceptionally wealthy man (Karwatka 12, Meltzer, 1997). His business helped to
fuel the economy and shape the nation into what it is today. As a
Philanthropist, he led by examples. He
used this wealth to build libraries and made
donations to various causes. He also
gave back a lot by making Carnegie Hall in NYC and investing in many colleges
Some see Carnegie as a robber baron in the sense that he made a lot of money,
created a monopoly by purchasing all the steel and iron companies, and paid his
workers very little. But on the other hand he is also considered as a captain
of industry because he thought of something so revolutionary and something that
changed the world and how things work forever .In addition to traveling and
entertaining leading figures in an array of fields, he also wrote a few books
and articles sharing his views on the social responsibility of wealthy
individuals to use their assets to help others.
Carnegie’s impact on our economy continues to influence our decisions as
leaders, educators and business men.
Works Cited
Karwatka, Dennis. “Andrew Carnegie-America's steel
Giant.” Tech Directions: Dec. 96, Vol.56 Issue 5, p12.
Meltzer, Milton. The many lives of Andrew Carnegie
(1915-2009). New York: Franklin
Watts, c1997.
Andrew
Carnegie. Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie.
BiblioBazaar, 2007.
Biography.com. < http://www.biography.com/people/andrew-carnegie-9238756#philanthropy>
Accessed
November 17, 2014.
American
Library. <http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/carnegie/aa_carnegie_phil_1.html>
Accessed Nov 17, 2014.
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