Andrew Carnegie Essay

Andrew Carnegie Essay

In the nineteenth century, when I hear the word Captain of Industry the name Andrew Carnegie comes to mind. Rather than being a Robber Baron, I believe Carnegie deserves the title Captain of Industry for many reasons. One reason would be that he came from being a poor young boy in Scotland, to being one of the richest men in America years after he and his family immigrated to the United States of America. The next reason would be that he provided many of his workers high earnings of money as well as how he funded certain public places. The third reason for his title of a Captain of Industry is that he surrounded himself around the right people and worked very hard with his jobs, using very wise tactics to get his work done.

Growing up as a young boy in Scotland, Carnegie's family was not very wealthy. They immigrated to America where Carnegie went from working as a bobbin boy, making $1.20 per hour, to making millions of dollars later in his life. Carnegie did not become wealthy by unethical means, as a Robber Baron would. Instead he worked very hard and wise to get to where he was during that time. Andrew Carnegie came from "rags to riches" in his lifetime and it paid off.

As I said before, Carnegie provided many workers with high earnings of money. All of Carnegie's young men working for his company were given without charge

ownership participations. This was enough to make them millionaires in their own right. He also gave back by funding over 2,500 libraries throughout America. Carnegie managed to give away 90 percent of his wealth before he died. He was able to make sure that the people around him were happy financially so that they could all work happily and achieve success together.

The third reason for the title of Captain of Industry is that he surrounded himself around the right people and using very wise tactics in growing as a worker. As a young worker, he did his best as a citizen to become close with Thomas A. Scott. The two would begin many stock investments which were paying dividends of more than $5,000 a year. He then united companies with George Pullman by making a joint proposition calling their company "The Pullman Palace Car Company." In time, Carnegie would become the company's largest stockholder. In The Carnegie Steel Company, Andrew began working three very talented workers including Captain William Jones, who was skilled at handling men, inventive in handling equipment, and was a natural artist which earned him a very high reputation. The next two were Henry Frick, whose coke industry complemented Andrew's steel company and Charles Schwab.

Even as we might admire his achievements and success, many questions arise. First, who paid the price for Carnegie's success? You could make an argument that we the people paid the price for Carnegie's success because of the prices rising as time goes on. However, we as people no matter what upbringing are capable of working hard to earn enough money to live in today's society. Another group of people that may pay the

price for his success are the Steel Companies today. They are expected to improve their products each