Andrew Carnegie: The Man Behind the Steel :: American History Essays

Andrew Carnegie The Man Behind the SteelI chose to right about Andrew Carnegie for the two pursuance reasons. The firstbeing his Scots heritage, and second being his close ties with the city ofPittsburgh. I happen to shake up some Scottish blood in me exactly more importantly I amfrom Pittsburgh.Andrew Carnegies story of rags to riches is slightly more inspiring than thatof Henry Clay Frick, his partner. As a Scottish immigrant Carnegie made hisways through the ranks of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Upon passing on anoffer for the superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the PennsylvaniaRailroad Carnegie and his brother Thomas purchased an already running mill(Burgoyne 6). From here Carnegie built up the largest and most lucrative ironand steel works in the world. His character was often challenged by certain(p)individuals and defended by others. It is common knowledge that Carnegie viewedhimself as a man of the people since he came from humble beginnings. Converselylabo r historian Harold Livesay was quoted in saying, that certainly by thestandards of ethics and conduct to which we would like to hold businessmentoday, he indeed operated extremely ruthlessly (www.pbs.org). Carnegiescharacter, views on labor and actions regarding Homestead will be discussedmore in depth further.The Homestead Strike of 1892 is known as one of the bloodiest and most bitterlabor strikes in American history. Many though would consider it to a necessaryprogressive movement even taking into account the many lost lives. In order tounderstand what exactly occurred in Homestead during the summer of 1892 it isfirst necessary to understand the town of Homestead itself. It is important topoint out the fact that without the mill there would be no Homestead, thereforemaking the mill the nucleus of the town. The mill was located along theMonongahela River in the south of Pittsburgh. Not having seen the mill myselfIm sure that it would have been a beacon to Pittsburghers, encompassi ng 600acres of the rivers bank (Burgoyne 1-2). The entire of economy of Homesteadwas centered on the mill with all other businesses depending on the revenuedispersed by the mill. Store owners, bartenders, and seamstresses all alikedepended on paychecks from the mill to spend at their respectiveproprietorships. There for the lockout of the mill did not alone affect themill workers but rather all 12,000 residents of Homestead (Burgoyne 1).As for Andrew Carnegie, well he became the richest man in the world. In theyear 1900 Carnegie sold the participation to J.P Morgan for $480 million.