Andrew Carnegie
Biography -
Andrew Carnegie was born into a poor family in 1835. Carnegie first began factory life at age 13. He worked the typical long shift with low wage, but he was a very hard worker. Carnegie was also very bright and industrious. He began as a telegraph operator for the Pennsylvania Railroad, then moved on further into the railroad industry. The Civil War showed promise in iron, so that was Carnegie's next step. Carnegie acquired large sums of capital by replacing wooden bridges with stronger iron ones. By wise investing, he started his own Carnegie Steel Company. Carnegie became known to be the steel king and is a prime of example of rags to riches.
Carnegie Steel Company -
In the late 19th century, supremacy was in steel. Nearly every aspect of society used it, and Carnegie, being the bright man he is, took note of this. He created his very own Carnegie Steel Company in Pittsburgh. His business used the tactic of vertical integration. This meant that they controlled all aspects of industry: raw materials to production to distribution. It was based on his goal to improve efficiency. However, Carnegie was not a monopolist and did not support trusts. He made most of his money through the steel industry, although his workers worked for low wages and long hours just as he had when he first started. His industry boomed, producing 1/4 of the nations Bessemer steel by 1900 and becoming the first billion-dollar industry in the world! In 1901, it was bought out by Morgan and became the U.S. Steel Corporation. He gained millions of dollars, and spent the rest of his life donating the money to charities, saying "the man who dies rich, dies disgraced".
Impacts
- started America's first billion-dollar industry (Carnegie Steel Company)
- one of the first to call for a league of nations
- built a "palace of peace"... later evolving into the world court
- supporter of philanthropy - contributing to American culture and society through the building of parks, universities, museums, hospitals, libraries, etc.