Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big Business Essay

Role of Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Camegie

Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big Business

Was Andrew Carnegie a "Robber Baron" or a "Captain of Industry"?

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish American born on 25th November 1835. He was an ordinary person but then he succeeded in becoming an entrepreneur, industrialist and a businessman who made a great contribution towards the expansion of American steel industry in the late 19th century.

The book, "Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big Business" written by Harold C. Livesay, is a story of the Andrew Carnegie's role as a business man. Harold has done an extensive research for this book and has not only written about Carnegie but has also included lot of information regarding the history of America. This book chronically presents the events of Carnegie who was an immigrant and a poor Scottish boy who made his fortune in America and became the second richest man of the world. He was also an anthropologist; he not only made money but also gave a lot of it in charity. Moreover, he built libraries, museums and other cultural centers and gave numerous personal gifts for the establishment of many trusts. When he passed away, he had given away more than 350 million for people.

Despite all this work, many people consider him as the "robber baron" instead of considering "captain of the industry" because he used some unfair means to succeed in business. This paper discusses the two opinions of people by considering the facts highlighted in book "Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big Business."

In my opinion Andrew Carnegie was a "captain of industry" because he started his work as an immigrant and tried his best to use his abilities efficiently. There is no doubt in saying that he was also a philanthropist and he made a huge contribution towards the public organizations, for instance he created around 3000 public libraries. Moreover, he worked as an advocate of the "gospel of wealth" which was a program in which rich people shared their wealth and used it for the benefit of the society.

Carnegie has a "robber baron" image because he initiated "Carnegie Steel" and flourished during the (gilded) golden age. In order to be successful in the steel industry, he purchased all the processes for making steel, changed the business skills, focused on efficiency and used cheap labor. In short he brought classic capitalism approach and his policy was "Watch the costs; the profits will take care of themselves." He played an unfair game only for getting ahead of others and by doing all this; he succeeded in monopolizing the steel industry.

Despite above facts, it is also important to consider that Carnegie used his business for strengthening the economy. He knew how to use power and money for good. He was a very good business man with super rich business skills and his efforts really helped in controlling the American Steel Industry. At the time of retirement in 1901, he sold his….....