5th hour
The Master of Steel: Andrew Carnegie
Robert L. Heilbroner
Thesis: In Andrew Carnegie, failures, such celebrating industrial power, but also integrity, of giving his money away can be seen of the Gilded Age America.
Quote: “Unite!” “Let’s make a joint proposition to the Union Pacific, your company and mine. Why not organize a new company to do it?”
This quote shows the author’s point that Andrew Carnegie was a wise man used his experiences to better benefit his companies.
Vocabulary:
McCandless & Company: Andrew Carnegie’s British-American steel company and the nucleus of his steel empire.
Gospel of Wealth: Carnegie’s philosophy that the millionaire had a duty to distribute wealth while still alive.
J.P. Morgan: the banker who bought the Carnegie steel empire which became the core of the United States Steel Company.
Reasons: 1) Andrew Carnegie success was a rags-to-riches story. a) At once of his first jobs he impressed others picking up Morse code quickly. i) As a result, he was soon the head of the growing messenger service and a skilled telegrapher himself. b) He got to become very rich by subscribing to stock of new companies. ii) Specifically he invested in the first sleeping car in this way. c) As a young child, he developed into a violent young Republican and developed his love for poetry. 2) Carnegie’s empire expanded to one of the biggest in the world. d) The sheer economic expansion of the industry benefitted the empire. iii) Everywhere steel replaced iron or found new uses. e) Carnegie had brilliant assemblage of personal talent with which he surrounded himself. f) The last factor of the growth of the empire was Carnegie himself. iv) He pitted his associates and subordinates in competition with one another until an intense atmosphere came through the organization. 3) Something had always driven