Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were two of the wealthiest men of all time. Many have asked the question of whether each of them was a captain of industry or a robber baron. In essence, the question means were they honest men who gained their wealth through hard work, or did they reach success on the backs of the poor working class. In my opinion, both Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were captains of industry due to their hard work, smart business, and dedication to efficiency. Andrew Carnegie began as a very hard working boy, entering the workforce at the young age of thirteen.
The Gospel of Wealth was the most influential of his writings, however, in that Carnegie stressed that the wealthy had a moral obligation to give to philanthropic causes and serve as stewards of society. Four years later, in 1901, Carnegie was nearing the end of his business career and allowed J.P. Morgan to buy out his steel empire for an astonishing price of $480 million dollars (Ibid.). Morgan was able to create U.S. Steel, and Carnegie became the richest man in the world. Carnegie did not want to remain a shareholder in the steel company, however, so he put the $300 million in gold bonds that he received from the deal into a specially-built vault in New Jersey. He never wanted to see or touch any of the money (Swetnam and Smith 1993,
Six years later, he worked his way up to become secretary to the local superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. By 1865, Carnegie was so busy managing the money he had earned in dividends that he left his job at the Pennsylvania Railroad. He entered the steel business in 1873 after touring a British steel mill and witnessing the awesome spectacle of the Bessemer process in action. By 1899, the Carnegie Steel Company manufactured more steel than all the factories in Great Britain. Andrew Carnegie is considered hero for some people, but for some people the doubt continues today, and this because everyone has their own perspectives.
Explain why the Democratic Party was overshadowed by the Republican Party between 1896-1912. The Democratic Party was overshadowed by the Republican between 1896 and 1912 because the Republicans had big financial support and clever tactics. Mark Hanna, known as ‘Bush’s Brain’, was an inventive politician who used negative tactics and his wealth (that he funded himself – over $100,000) to fund the Republic campaign and to cause a split between the Democratic Party. With his large donation of money, the Republicans outspent the Democrats by 10-1 ensuring McKinley’s victory against William J Bryan (Democrat). Hanna played a major role in the development of the big businesses in American politics which led to a solid platform of Republican success.
Unlike Andrew Carnegie, his hourly “wage” is equal to $9,200, so that means his daily “wage” is therefore about $92,000. My final reason why I think Carnegie was not a hero is because of his philanthropic endeavors. He took away from his workers, to give to the community. Carnegie is known for his philanthropy, he was a great philanthropist. Document M shows how Carnegie believed in distributing his money during his own lifetime, not just after death.
American Industrialist Andrew Carnegie was an extremely well known philanthropist. He made an immense fortune through his work within the steel industry. He believed in the idea of distribution of wealth. He supported his belief by giving away most of the fortune he had made over his years of work. Carnegie returned almost $300 million of his wealth to other people by establishing trust funds and making donations to other charitable organizations he supported.
In the industrial age, when labor rights were still in their infancy, there were people like Terrance Powderly who wanted to better the status of labor through unions. On the other hand, there were men like Jay Gould, who thought of labor as a source to make money and did not think it important to treat them fairly. In this paper, I will discuss the works of these two men. Terrance Powderly was born in Carbonate, Pennsylvania, in 1849. Terrence gave up his education at the age of thirteen and started working as a switch operator for Pennsylvania railroad.
Railroads are considered to be a symbol of national unity because they connect places within it, and of economic progress since they open new commercial areas. Railroads opened new areas to commercial farming and creating a national market for manufactured goods. Extremely important was the fact that railroads divided the nation into the four time zones still used today. Self-made men were men who came from low origins but manage to become business leaders who accumulated enormous fortunes and economic power. For example, Carnegie was an immigrant who after hard work established the “vertical integration” steel company.
Before the Industrial Revolution goods were sacred, jobs were low, and there was not much produce, and while during the industrial revolution up until present day everything has changed. There is now a mass production of numerous produces and jobs had started to increase in all areas. The revolution was an era of change, independence on production, and the rise of many different industrial leaders, while some were considered robber barons and others were considered captains of industry. With robber barons those people are considered powerful business men who used criminal and unethical ways of becoming wealthy and or powerful. While with captains of industry they are considered businessmen who tried to help contribute to the community with jobs, the market, and productivity of certain buildings.
He has more hands on knowledge about the economy because he has owned a business, He even started his own business at the age of 37. In the fact, he is no Washington insider like Obama his fellow candidate for the presidency. He has both experience with the economy and politics. He is much more better fit for the position because of this . Obama’s plans to make jobs through stimulus have failed.