Andrew Carnegie Robber Baron Or Captain Of Industry

During the late 1800s there was a time period called the “Gilded Age”. The Gilded Age is a time period the economy was struggling along with the people of the era. Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and Thomas Edison were some examples of successful business owners and Robber Barons of that time. Robber Barons were the people who stole money from the public along with natural resources such as soil, land, etc. These men were supposed to be great leaders, but instead they enforce horrible working conditions.

To start, Andrew Carnegie revolutionized steel production in the U.S as he used methods that were faster and easier to make steel, but Andrew Carnegie would have been nothing if it was not for his workers. Carnegie tried to lower his employees’ wages and he is just swindling his workers that, no offense, are poor because they are working for a steel company that have to lower their wages. One incident happened in 1892 when employees in Homestead went on strike after Carnegie tried to lower their wages. In document 3, the author states,” When the company tried to lower wages at a Carnegie steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania, the employees objected”(Doc, 3). Carnegie tried to deprive his employees’ of their wages for himself.

Can you be a robber and a baron? In the industrial revolution multiple people monopolize the product to gain power. “Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25,1835.” He was a Scottish immigrant who could not read and came to the united states at the age of nine. Carnegie made his fortune in the steel industry.

In a time when economics and advancements were the most crucial parts of life, there were entrepreneurs who took advantage of their wealth and status to manipulate the economy and the less fortunate citizens. It is a powerful question throughout history whether these influential yet dictatorial men were captains of industry who allowed the economy to advance and flourish or robber barons who benefitted off the work of the lower classes and the betrayal of democracy. It is not arguable, however, that the only correct answer to this question would be that these men flourished and exceeded through the exploitation of the labor of the lower class which leads to the conclusion that they were robber barons. These men such as Cornelius Vanderbilt

He was already elderly and had a contempt for the law. He was used to getting his way and the addition of more wealth only made his self important attitude worse. He was universally an unemphatic individual placing the acquisition of wealth far above any other individual. Andrew Carnegie, the steel baron, was a Scottish immigrant who worked his way to the top. He was the master of Vertical Integration, owning all aspects of his industry from mining to selling the product.

During the late 1800s, there were some very bad, powerful people. One of them was Andrew Carnegie, captain of the steel industry. Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish immigrant who came to America to seek a better life. He made his money in the steel industry after figuring out a way to manufacture it faster. Andrew Carnegie was a villain because he didn’t care about his workers, preached about world peace and then turned around and gave the U.S. Navy steel, and because his club tampered with a dam, killing thousands.

Robber Barons and Captains of Industry Some might believe that the businessmen of the Gilded age are robber barons because of how some of them treated their workers and spent their money. The businessmen of the Gilded Age were captains of industry because of the impact that they made on the country. Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, and Vanderbilt all have done things that can identify them as captains of industry. These businessmen gave their time and effort to help the economy grow.

The Rise of Andrew Carnegie If you know anything about the history of the Unites States and the industrialization period, then you will recognize the name Andrew Carnegie. He was not only the inventor of the well-known steel industry we have today, but is also one of the greatest industrialists that has ever existed. Carnegie, however, didn’t grow up wealthy as a child like you would think from all his wealth from the steel industry. Born into his family in Scotland, his parents struggled to make enough money to support Andrew and his other siblings. Growing up poor vastly helped Carnegie when he got older and dealt with the success of the steel mill.

As Carnegie was growing both richer each day from his prosperous Steel company, he had eventually become one of the captains of industry and also in some cases a robber baron. Other owners like Rockefeller were also a part of this group. going back to the Gospel of Wealth, after Carnegie had accumulated an excessive amount of money he had pulled up from his successful industry, he felt the need to use it correctly to benefit everyone or people who didn't have as much money as

Justification of this is seen in Document 3, as Andrew Carnegie writes, “The problem of our age is the proper administration of wealth so that the ties of brotherhood may still bind together the rich and poor in harmony.” Surely, a manipulative man would not believe in such fair distribution of wealth. Carnegie is also famous for large charitable donations, meaning his business methods were not enacted solely for his own benefit. This statement highlights Carnegie’s compassionate side and proves that he is not completely a “robber baron.” Similarly to Carnegie, Rockefeller’s compassionate side is also portrayed in Document 7.

The captains of industry believed that the poor people were inferior to the rich people. The rich were superior because they had “wisdom, experience, and the ability to administer”. The duty of a rich person was to help out a poor person which was what was said in the Gospel of Wealth. The Gospel of Wealth is about how the rich person's responsibility is philanthropy. Carnegie believes in charity work so he would donate to libraries, and universities and schools and etc.

Was Cornelius Vanderbilt a Robber Baron or Captain of Industry? A cruel businessman or an industrious leader? Henry J. Raymond believed that Vanderbilt was “a monopolist that crushed other competitors”(T.J Stiles). While he is also deemed one of America’s leading businessmen, and is also credited for helping shape the United States. His fortunes were made unfairly in some cases but his million dollar contribution to the Navy was very generous.

Carnegie was considered a Robber Baron for many reasons. For example, he gained huge profits because of his workers low wages. In the excerpt, “Who was Andrew Carnegie,” the author said, “his steel workers were often pushed to long hours and low wages.” Workers worked in harsh conditions and received no benefits causing them to live in poverty with scarce food, clothing, and shelter. Workers were tired of the low wages and decided to go on strike.

Andrew Carnegie: A Titan of Industry Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish immigrant, who became one of the greatest business men in American history. He was born in Dunfermline, Scotland to a poor household. His family immigrated to the United States when he was a young boy. Once Carnegie arrived in the US one of his first jobs was working in a cotton mill for one-dollar and twenty cents a week.

Was Andrew Carnegie a thief and a cheat, or a giving philanthropist? Andrew Carnegie was a man who started from the bottom in a poor household. He sailed and settled in america and grew up to rise through the ranks in the job he had gotten, seeming like he would be a leader in the railroad industry he was known across the country, in 1872 he met Henry Bessemer who thought of the Bessemer process for making steel 20 years before. They shared ideas and with this process Carnegie became rich, but Carnegie shared his money donating to libraries and many other places, but these donations came out of workers wages. In 1900 Carnegie sold his steel company and continued his life donating and funding important organizations for education.