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 following reasons. The firstbeing his Scots heritage, and second being his close ties with the city ofPittsburgh. I happen to cod some Scottish blood in me but more(prenominal) 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 do hisways through the ranks of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Upon passing on an spell for the superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the PennsylvaniaRailroad Carnegie and his br new(prenominal) Thomas purchased an already running grinder(Burgoyne 6). From here Carnegie built up the largest and most mercantile ironand steel works in the world. His character was often ch bothenged by certainindividuals and defended by others. It is common knowledge that Carnegie viewedhimself as a homophile of the people since he came from humble beginnings. Conversely ride 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 force 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 essentialprogressive movement even taking into account the many illogical lives. In order tounderstand what exactly occurred in Homestead during the spend of 1892 it isfirst necessary to understand the town of Homestead itself. It is important to focalise out the fact that without the mill there would be no Homestead, consequentlymaking 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 leave been a beacon to Pittsburghers, encompassing 600acres of the rivers bank (Burgoyne 1-2). The built-in 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 equivalentdepended on paychecks from the mill to spend at their respectiveproprietorships. There for the lockout of the mill did not simply 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 company to J.P Morgan for $480 million.