Preview

Andrew Carnegie Biography Essay

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
435 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Andrew Carnegie Biography Essay
BIOGRAPHY OF ANDREW CARNEGIE
By: Kevin Taylor

Andrew Carnegie was an American industrialist but was native to Scotland. Born in Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland, on November 15, 1835 Andrew was the first son of son of William and Margaret Carnegie. Young Andrew's family was very political; father William was the local leader of the Chartists who fought to improve living conditions of the working-class community in Great Britain and his grandfather was a social and political reformer. In 1848 the family packed up and headed for the New World eventually settling in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

Andrew Carnegie was a true rags to riches story. When he was thirteen he started working, first as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory, then as a telegraph messenger boy then as a telegraph operator in the Pennsylvania Railroad. He soon became superintendent of his division. His first company was co-owned by Mr. Woodruff, the inventor of the sleeping car, in The Woodruff Sleeping Car Company, which made the core of his future fortunes. Oil investments and jobs for the government during the Civil War followed. Mr.
…show more content…
When Andrew was a working boy in Pittsburgh there was a Colonel who shared his private library of books to the working boys. Andrew took every chance to further his learning and obtained most of his knowledge from the library of books. So when Carnegie was rich and ready to share it, he spent $60 million to create over 3,000 public libraries throughout Scotland, America, and England. Also, he spent an average of $10-35 million dollars for establishing world peace, Carnegie institute in Pittsburgh, and Washington (wonder why?), New York establishment of branch libraries, Scotch universities, benefits for the employees of his steel company, and a pension plan for college professors. The total exceeding $300

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    There, Andrew began his career as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory at the young age of thirteen. An avid reader, Carnegie spent most of his spare time in the homes of wealthy citizens who were generous enough to allow him access to their private libraries. Carnegie took full advantage of these opportunities, which provided a large majority of his education. His impressive intellectual talents quickly shown through when he received a promotion to the bookkeeping side of the business, and went from being a Western Union messenger boy to a telegraph operator. This monumental leap in business at such a young age led Carnegie to fulfill a series of prominent positions in his career, one of which being the commanding superintendent of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania…

    • 1144 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, were both at one point in there life’s the richest men in the world. However they both had very different trails getting to their fortunes. Rockefeller was more or less handed money being part of the prestige aristocracy, however he was a very shred and organized man. He stressed the idea of planning ahead and never procrastinating, in most cases he was a penny-pinching millionaire. Even as a child he was always very organized and always planned ahead. This helped contribute to his success in his life with is Oil Company. Andrew Carnegie was not as fortunate as Rockefeller; he was an Irish Immigrant and at one point in his life was making a $1.70 a week. He was the epitome of the American dream; he rose…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    He created a stronger type of steel that was not only the most effective, but the most efficient as well. Andrew Carnegie also had a strategy of his own. He believed that the only way to become a great businessman was to control monopolies and control the step of the process in materials. Carnegie definitely had a different side to him. He was a cruel businessman to his workers and a very kind philanthropist. He would poorly pay his workers, as well as leave them poorly housed. Carnegie was really never close to his workers and the wages that they had were very low compared to other steel industries. Nevertheless, he believed that "the man who dies rich, dies disgraced and a rich man should use his money for the benefit of others" (Youngs 33.) In Carnegies older years, he devoted himself entirely to his philanthropist's beliefs' after he sold his business. Carnegie built libraries around the world, but focused especially on the United States. He opened up galleries, museums, music halls, and technical schools. He also encouraged research and higher learning to others. Carnegie also established a donation to permanently seek an end to war. His donations totaled about 350 million…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland. Andrews father was a handloom weaver (which is someone who threads yarn with interlacing yarn with another creating cloth) but that sadly came to an end as the steam powered looms came into play. Andrew learned what poverty meant as when his mother had to go to work to support their family. So this set his plan in action to become a great man. His mother moved their family out to pittsburgh in 1848 which in those times it was the iron manufacturing center of the country.…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Carnegie and Frick

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Andrew Carnegie was a poor immigrant from Scotland who came to this country with just a dime. He eventually grew his net worth to $293 billion in 2007 dollars. Carnegie began he career as an entrepreneur when he began building businesses such as cars, bridges, and iron to service the Pennsylvania railroad near Pittsburgh. (Gilder Lehrman) Carnegie worked his way up from a telegraph messenger to a railroad director. He began making investments during that time, including some in steel. He built his first steel mill in the area in 1873 to service the railroad. Carnegie is described as having a bright and optimistic personality. He treated his workers well compared to some other titans of the era and believed in giving back to the country. However, he lowered his workers’ wages when his profit fell. He also stood pat while Henry Clay Frick crushed the workers’ rebellion and then blamed Frick for all the violence. Carnegie took a paternalistic approach to managing his workers. He was benevolent, but also expected them to meet him halfway.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good 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
  • Better Essays

    Carnegie was born in Scotland during 1835 and immigrated to the U.S. with his family, at a young age. When he started working in the U.S. he was at the bottom: a cotton mill worker. Several years later he started working for a telegraph company, which paid better than the mill. Two years…

    • 1203 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    This helped recover from some of his tainted reputation. From 1900 going forward, public attention was now on the philanthropist-spirited way in which he portrayed himself after leaving the industrial business. After selling his company, Carnegie’s fortune grew $225,639,000, which is about $6.64 billion today. He had written about his views subjects of society and wealth responsibilities in the pieces Triumphant Democracy (1886) and Gospel of Wealth (1889). Andrew Carnegie donated a good bit of his fortune, in 1901, to establish what is called The Carnegie Confusion. This consists of over 25 companies around the world. (Science, C) Carnegie also created the “Carnegie Institution of Washington”, in Washington D.C. In 2007, the institution changed the name to "Carnegie Institution for Science”. The “Carnegie Hero Fund Commission” was created to recognize someone who performed an extraordinary act of heroism in America. This fund also provides financial assistance to one who is disabled because of a heroic act or to the dependents of a hero killed attempting to save someone else. The Carnegie Hero Fund was established in 1904 by Andrew Carnegie and had a trust fund of $5 million to start. It is still prevalent in America and Canada today for those civilians who perform a heroic act. (Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, 2017) Andrew Carnegie also created the Carnegie Endowment for Internal Peace (CEIP) in 1910. Carnegie had…

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. His family moved to the states when he was in his teens. He had many jobs working on the railroad, starting at the bottom by working for people, but soon made his way into a steel tycoon. Carnegie owned the Carnegie Steel Corporation, which it was known as the largest of its kind in the world. Just like Andrew did, he believes that children should not start out with a bunch of money. They should have to learn and work their way up to become as great as him. He thinks this because it is what he did. It teaches children lessons about their lives and it will help them understand the world later on in life. Andrew wanted to become a wealthy businessman and that is just what he did. While becoming this tycoon, who did he help? And who did he leave behind? Carnegie did believe in helping people that need it, but was very cautious when it came to giving. That is because he believed that people should only receive help if they can help themselves as…

    • 861 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Was Andrew Carnegie A Hero

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Andrew Carnegie is known as one of the most successful businessmen to exist. He created the Carnegie Steel Industry and was known to give away much of his wealth. For this we consider him a hero.…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A self-made millionaire that started from rock bottom, Andrew Carnegie altered and helped to construct how America is today. He was able to achieve this through his ownership of the Carnegie Steel Company, and his generosity that is described within his book, The Gospel Of Wealth, that discussed his views on how the wealthy had an obligation to give back to society. Carnegie’s philanthropy work was able to highlight his love for education by giving money for establishments of Libraries and foundations.…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rising from rags to riches gaining a lot of power and making immense amounts of money was the successful story and life of Andrew Carnegie. Born on November 25th, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland , Andrew Carnegie was born into poor family of a mother who was a shoe maker and tanner and a father who was a handloom weaver . Immigrating to the United States in the May of 1848 , Andrew Carnegie started a whole new life there. “The Carnegies’ passage was relatively uneventful and mercifully short—there seems to have been no ship fever, cholera, or typhus… on board.” When reaching to the United States growing up in near Pittsburgh, and later on working in the Pennsylvania Railroad company in his later years is where the great rise of money and power…

    • 1290 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The “Gospel of Wealth” was written by Andrew Carnegie during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. He was born in Scotland and immigrated to the United States in 1848. Carnegie had very little of a formal education but grew up in a family that believed in the importance of books and learning. Jumping from job to job, he became one of the wealthiest businessman in America. Achieving this by investing and buying stocks in promising ventures like iron mills and factories. Finally founding his own company known as the Carnegie Steel Company and revolutionizing the steel industry, he embodied the American Dream.…

    • 313 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Andrew Carnegie Essay

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Andrew Carnegie was an extremely successful businessman through the wealth he obtained with the railroad industry, but as a person felt that this fortune was better spent on socially beneficial projects, and his idea became known as “ The Gospel of Wealth."…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25,1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland. His father worked as a handloom weaver. At the age of 13, in1848 Carnegie came to america with his family. He worked in a factory, earning $1.20 a week. A year went by and he found a job as a telegraph messenger. In 1853 he then took a job at the Pennsylvania railroad. Three years later Carnegie was promoted to superintendent.…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics