ANDREW CARNEGIE: FROM RAGS TO RICHES TO CHARITY
A LOOK INTO HOW ANDREW CARNEGIE IS CONSIDERED A HUMANITARIAN
What is a humanitarian? According to the Oxford Dictionary, a humanitarian is someone who “seeks to promote human welfare; a philanthropist.” Andrew Carnegie fits the definition of a humanitarian without any shadow of a doubt. Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835 into a poor Scottish family. After moving to the US, he worked multiple odd jobs. By the time he was 54, he owned Carnegie Steel Corporation, which was the largest of its kind. At the age of 65, he sold his business in order to dedicate his life to charity. I believe that he is considered a humanitarian because of his establishment of the Carnegie-Mellon University in 1900. Yet another charitable act was when he donated 5 million dollars to the New York Public Library. He also started the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1910. Carnegie once wrote that the wealthy have “a moral obligation to distribute [their money] in ways
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It was said that it sold for $480 million dollars to the banker, JP Morgan. He then dedicated his life to charity in order to support his claim that the wealthy have “a moral obligation to distribute [their money] in ways that promote the welfare and happiness of the common man,” (Gospel of Wealth, Andrew Carnegie). Carnegie didn’t want to die disgraced as a rich man. So, by the time of Carnegie’s death, Carnegie had imparted $350,695,653 to charities. After his death in 1919, the remaining $30,000,000 dollars were given away to charities and foundations. The total amount of donated money would be the equivalent of billions of dollars today. He donated over 7,600 organs to churches worldwide. He endowed organizations that were dedicated to the research of science, education, world peace, and other issues. He helped, supported, and donated to organizations that “cared and sought to promote human
Carnegie gives away more than $350,000,000. Most of the money went towards education and his favorite libraries more than 2,500 Carnegie libraries are built in
Even though he couldn’t change much, Carnegie still wanted to do something, he wanted to make a difference to counteract his wrong doings. In 1901 Andrew Carnegie sold his company to J.P. Morgan for 48 million dollars, by the end of it, Morgan shook Carnegie’s hand congratulating him on being the richest man in the world, and he
In his lifetime he had donated $540 million to numerous organizations, such as, colleges, and war relief
Carnegie donated money to establish ($350 million worth) libraries, schools, universities, and pension funds for his employees. James J. Hill provided seed, grain, and cattle to farmers during the Great Depression. (Hook Exercise). These entrepreneurs promoted inventions that enhanced the way we live in the developing technological era. When people were in need, these captains of industry were there to save the day, sharing their money like it was no big deal; only it really was to the ones who needed
Rather, he thought that wealthy men had a responsibility to determine how the money they made was spent. Carnegie himself became a huge philanthropist and his essay, “The Gospel of Wealth” started a large wave of philanthropy. His essay states that the “surplus wealth of the few will become, in the best sense, the property of the many, because administered for the common good, and this wealth, passing through the hands of the few, can be made a much more potent force for the elevation of our race than if it had been distributed in small sums to the people themselves.”
He donated to a lot of good causes. In the “document C” that he donated 50,365,000 dollars. He donated a lot of causes and made a lot of people happy. Was Carnegie a hero by donating
Carnegie was not a hero, because a hero does a deed selflessly, but he thought a lot about himself. 184,400,000 dollars was spent on big-name corporations and associations that would honor him by naming a meaningful belonging after him (Doc C). Carnegie was a man who wanted to feed his ego but should have donated money to help the community, not make himself known. Andrew Carnegie was not a true hero. Many may say, going from rags to riches makes Carnegie a hero.
He believed that if the wealthy don't give back some of their profits to the community, they are living a dishonorable life, and although I didn't necessarily agree with this radical viewpoint at first, I now am a firm believer in Carnegie's argument about wealth.
In the late 1800’s, J.P Morgan, John Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie had a negative impact on society because they were Robber Barons. They treated their workers very poorly in a way that should not have happened. J.P Morgan forced his workers to labor under harsh conditions for long hours and low pay. This is coming from a guy who has made millions of dollars and who has started a 60 million dollar business. Knowing how much money he has and how very little he pays his workers shows how ruthless he is as a business owner.
The late 19th century was full of growth, production, and business. People were craving power and seemed to achieve this through any means necessary. Consequently, a new business elite formed consisting of the richest men alive. The way in which these individuals acquired all their profits is something very contradictory even over one-hundred years later. Some historians characterize these businessmen as “robber barons” who used extreme methods to control and concentrate wealth and power, and being supported by multiple sources, this statement is justified but only to some extent.
Second off, the reasons behind Andrew Carnegie represented the worst of the Gilded Age was due to the fact that he was a two-faced person. To explain, sure, he was a philanthropist, a person who seeks to promote the welfare of others, especially by the generous donation of money to good causes, however; he was hypocritical. During his younger years there was very little for the care of his workers, Carnegie amassed a huge fortune on the backs of mistreating his workers to the point that they went on strike. Another reason, he represented the worst is that, he even though he said that he love humanity, Carnegie manufactured guns and war ships overseas. Adding on, he was an overpriced fraud because he was selling steel armor plates for unreasonable
Andrew Carnegie was one of the most famous and wealthiest American industrialist during the Industrial Age. He was a robber baron who made a fortune in the steel industry and applied vertical integration to his business. Carnegie contradicted his views as a robber baron because he supported, but destroyed many unions. This made many of his views unethical.
Andrew Carnegie was a famous industrialist. When Carnegie was 13, he and his family moved to the United States from Scotland. They came to the United States very poor. Carnegie started as a bobbin boy at the age of 13, changing spools of thread in a cotton mill 12 hours a day, for 6 days a week. He was paid a low wage of $1.20 per week.
Andrew Carnegie Once, there was a man to have the largest personal fortune in the world. He helped improve mankind by donating millions of his fortune to charity. This mastermind was named Andrew Carnegie, an industrial monopolizer who used steel to gain his massive fortune. Andrew Carnegie was born November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland.
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.