Andrew Carnegie Biography

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist who lived from November 25, 1835 to August 11, 1919. Carnegie was one of the wealthiest Americans in history, having pioneered the rise of the American steel industry in the late 1800s. He rose to prominence as a philanthropist in both the United States and the British Empire.

Throughout the last 18 years of his life, he donated nearly 90% of his money to foundations, charities, and institutions, totaling $350 million (approximately $5.2 billion in 2020). His piece "The Gospel of Fortune," published in 1889, urged the wealthy to use their wealth to better society, voiced support for progressive taxation and an estate tax, and sparked a philanthropic boom.

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Information On Andrew Carnegie

Born- November 25, 1835

Died- August 11, 1919 (aged 83)

Occupation- Industrialist, Philanthropist

Political party- Republican

Spouse(s)- Louise Whitfield ​(m. 1887)​

Children- Margaret Carnegie Miller

Parent(s)- William Carnegie; Margaret Morrison Carnegie

Relatives- Thomas M. Carnegie (Brother), George Lauder (1st Cousin), George Lauder, Sr. (Uncle)

Early Life

Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, to Margaret Morrison Carnegie and William Carnegie, in a typical weaver's cottage with only one main room, which had been used with the neighbouring weaver's family. The primary room functioned as a dining room, living room, and bedroom all at the same time.

His paternal grandfather was the inspiration for his name. Considering the demand for much more heavy damask, which his father profited from, the family relocated to a bigger house on Edgar Street (opposite Reid's Park) in 1836. He attended Dunfermline's Free School, which would have been a gift to the town from philanthropist Adam Rolland of Gask.

Carnegie's maternal uncle, Scottish politician George Lauder, Sr., affected him greatly as a child by introducing him to Robert Burns' poems and historical Scottish heroes like Robert the Bruce, Rob Roy and William Wallace. George Lauder, Lauder's son, having grown up with Carnegie and later became his business partner. Carnegie's father had hit hard times as a handloom weaver when he was 12 years old, and the country was starving. His mother supported the family by supporting her brother and selling potted meats at her "sweetie shop," which left her as the sole breadwinner. In 1848, the Carnegies chose to take out a loan from George Lauder, Sr. and migrate to Allegheny, Pennsylvania, in the United States, in the hope of a better life. Carnegie's trip to America would've been his second outside of Dunfermline, after a visit to Edinburgh to see Queen Victoria.

Carnegie and his family landed in Allegheny in September 1848. On his own, Carnegie's father failed to sell his merchandise. Both the father and son were eventually offered jobs at Anchor Cotton Mills, a Scottish-owned cotton factory. In 1848, Carnegie's first employment was as a bobbin boy in a Pittsburgh cotton business, where he worked 12 hours a day, six days a week changing spools of thread in a cotton mill. His first week's pay was $1.20 ($36 by 2020 inflation).

Steel Tycoon

The autobiography of Andrew Carnegie tells us that he started to make investments while working for the railroad. He made a lot of good decisions and discovered that his investments, particularly in the oil, paid off well. In 1865, he left the railroad to pursue other business ventures, including the Keystone Bridge Company.

By the next decade, Carnegie had devoted most of his time to the steel sector. His company, which became famous as the Carnegie Steel Company, revolutionised American steel production. Carnegie constructed steel facilities all throughout the country, utilising technology and processes that made steel production faster, easier, and more efficient. He had everything he needed for each step of the operation, including raw materials, ships and railroads for shipping the goods, and even coal fields for fueling the steel furnaces.

Carnegie became the dominant force in the industry and a very wealthy man as a result of his start-to-finish strategy. It also helped him gain a reputation as one of America's "builders," as his company fueled the economy and shaped the country into what it is today. Carnegie Steel Corporation was the world's largest steel company by 1889.

Some people believed that the company's prosperity was achieved at the expense of its employees. The most famous instance of this occurred in 1892. Employees at a Carnegie Steel mill in Homestead, Pennsylvania, protested when the business tried to lower pay. They went on strike, dubbed the Homestead Strike of 1892 because they refused to work. After the management sent in guards to bust up the union, the struggle between the employees and the local managers became violent. Even though Carnegie was away throughout the strike, many people held him responsible for his managers' behaviour.

Andrew Carnegie Philanthropy 

The Andrew Carnegie Company made a significant adjustment in his life in 1901. He sold his company to the United States Steel Corporation, which was founded by J.P. Morgan, the famed financier. He received more than $200 million from the deal. Carnegie chose to devote the rest of his life to helping people when he was 65 years old. Carnegie intensified his philanthropic efforts in the early twentieth century, after beginning his charitable work years earlier by creating libraries and making grants.

Carnegie, who had been a voracious reader for most of his life, contributed $5 million to the New York Public Library in 1901, allowing the library to open additional branches. He founded the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, which is today known as Carnegie-Mellon University, in 1904. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was established the next year, in 1905. He founded the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1910 as a result of his great commitment to peace. He made countless other contributions, and it is estimated that he helped to open almost 2,800 libraries.

Carnegie enjoyed travelling and meeting and entertaining notable personalities in a variety of professions, in addition to his commercial and charitable pursuits. Matthew Arnold, William Gladstone, Mark Twain, and Theodore Roosevelt were among his pals.

Carnegie also published a number of books and essays. In his 1889 piece "Wealth," he argued that those who have a lot of money should be socially responsible and use their money to serve others. This was later published as The Gospel of Wealth in 1900.

Death

Carnegie died of bronchial pneumonia on August 11, 1919, at his Shadow Brook residence in Lenox, Massachusetts. He had previously given away $350,695,653 of his fortune (about $76.9 billion, adjusted to the 2015 share of GDP data). His final $30 million was distributed to charities, foundations, and pensioners after his death. In Sleepy Hollow, New York, he was laid to rest in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. At the crossroads of Summit Avenue and Dingle Road is the Arcadia Hebron parcel of land, where the gravesite is located. Carnegie is buried next to union activist Samuel Gompers, another significant industrial player of the Gilded Age.

Legacy and Honours

• After Carnegie supported the expedition that unearthed its bones in Utah's Morrison Formation (Jurassic), the dinosaur Diplodocus carnegiei (Hatcher) was named after him. Carnegie was so enamoured by "Dippi '' that he had moulds of the bones produced and plaster reproductions of the entire skeleton donated to museums around Europe and South America. The original fossil skeleton has been assembled and is on display in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History's Hall of Dinosaurs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

• Following the Spanish–American War, Carnegie gave the Philippines a $20 million donation to help them buy their independence.

• His hometowns of Pennsylvania, Carnegie, and Carnegie, Oklahoma, were named after him.

• Carnegiea gigantea, the scientific name for the Saguaro cactus, is named for him.

• In his honour, the Carnegie Medal for the greatest children's books produced in the United Kingdom was founded.

• He is honoured with the Carnegie Faculty of Sport and Education at Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom.

• He has symphony halls named after him in Dunfermline and New York.

Andrew Carnegie Quotes

Let us take a look at few Andrew Carnegie quotes.

• The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.

• People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents are.

• Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself.