UPDATED: FEB 9, 2021 · ORIGINAL: NOV 9, 2009
Andrew Carnegie
HISTORY.COM EDITORS
Scottish-born Andrew Carnegie (1835-
CONTENTS 1919) was an American industrialist who
amassed a fortune in the steel industry
1. Andrew Carnegie: Early Life and then became a major philanthropist.
Career Carnegie worked in a Pittsburgh cotton
factory as a boy before rising to the
2. Andrew Carnegie: Steel position of division superintendent of the
Magnate
Pennsylvania Railroad in 1859. While
3. Andrew Carnegie: working for the railroad, he invested in
Philanthropist various ventures, including iron and oil
4. Andrew Carnegie: Family and companies, and made his first fortune by
Final Years the time he was in his early 30s. In the
early 1870s, he entered the steel
business, and over the next two decades
became a dominant force in the industry.
In 1901, he sold the Carnegie Steel Company to banker John Pierpont Morgan
for $480 million. Carnegie then devoted himself to philanthropy, eventually
giving away more than $350 million.
Andrew Carnegie: Early Life and
Career
Andrew Carnegie, whose life became a rags-to-riches story, was born into
modest circumstances on November 25, 1835, in Dunfermline, Scotland, the
second of two sons of Will, a handloom weaver, and Margaret, who did sewing
work for local shoemakers. In 1848, the Carnegie family (who pronounced
their name “carNEgie”) moved to America in search of better economic
opportunities and settled in Allegheny City (now part of Pittsburgh),
Pennsylvania. Andrew Carnegie, whose formal education ended when he left
Scotland, where he had no more than a few years’ schooling, soon found
employment as a bobbin boy at a cotton factory, earning $1.20 a week.
Did you know? During the U.S. Civil War, Andrew Carnegie was drafted for the
Army; however, rather than serve, he paid another man $850 to report for
duty in his place, a common practice at the time.
Ambitious and hard-working, he went on to hold a series of jobs, including
messenger in a telegraph office and secretary and telegraph operator for the
superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In
1859, Carnegie succeeded his boss as railroad division superintendent. While
in this position, he made profitable investments in a variety of businesses,
including coal, iron and oil companies and a manufacturer of railroad sleeping
cars.
After leaving his post with the railroad in 1865, Carnegie continued his ascent
in the business world. With the U.S. railroad industry then entering a period of
rapid growth, he expanded his railroad-related investments and founded such
ventures as an iron bridge building company (Keystone Bridge Company) and
a telegraph firm, often using his connections to win insider contracts. By the
time he was in his early 30s, Carnegie had become a very wealthy man.
Andrew Carnegie: Steel Magnate
In the early 1870s, Carnegie co-founded his first steel company, near
Pittsburgh. Over the next few decades, he created a steel empire, maximizing
profits and minimizing inefficiencies through ownership of factories, raw
materials and transportation infrastructure involved in steel making. In 1892,
his primary holdings were consolidated to form Carnegie Steel Company.
The steel magnate considered himself a champion of the working man;
however, his reputation was marred by the violent Homestead Strike in 1892
at his Homestead, Pennsylvania, steel mill. After union workers protested
wage cuts, Carnegie Steel general manager Henry Clay Frick (1848-1919), who
was determined to break the union, locked the workers out of the plant.
Andrew Carnegie was on vacation in Scotland during the strike, but put his
support in Frick, who called in some 300 Pinkerton armed guards to protect
the plant. A bloody battle broke out between the striking workers and the
Pinkertons, leaving at least 10 men dead. The state militia then was brought in
to take control of the town, union leaders were arrested and Frick hired
replacement workers for the plant. After five months, the strike ended with
the union’s defeat. Additionally, the labor movement at Pittsburgh-area steel
mills was crippled for the next four decades.
In 1901, banker John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) purchased Carnegie Steel
for some $480 million, making Andrew Carnegie one of the world’s richest
men. That same year, Morgan merged Carnegie Steel with a group of other
steel businesses to form U.S. Steel, the world’s first billion-dollar corporation.
READ MORE: Andrew Carnegie Claimed to Support Unions, But Then
Destroyed Them in His Steel Empire
Andrew Carnegie: Philanthropist
After Carnegie sold his steel company, the diminutive titan, who stood 5’3”,
retired from business and devoted himself full-time to philanthropy. In 1889,
he had penned an essay, “The Gospel of Wealth,” in which he stated that the
rich have “a moral obligation to distribute [their money] in ways that promote
the welfare and happiness of the common man.” Carnegie also said, “The man
who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”
Carnegie eventually gave away some $350 million (the equivalent of billions in
today’s dollars), which represented the bulk of his wealth. Among his
philanthropic activities, he funded the establishment of more than 2,500
public libraries around the globe, donated more than 7,600 organs to
churches worldwide and endowed organizations (many still in existence today)
dedicated to research in science, education, world peace and other causes.
Among his gifts was the $1.1 million required for the land and construction
costs of Carnegie Hall, the legendary New York City concert venue that opened
in 1891. The Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Mellon University and
the Carnegie Foundation were all founded thanks to his financial gifts. A lover
of books, he was the largest individual investor in public libraries in American
history.
Andrew Carnegie: Family and Final
Years
Carnegie’s mother, who was a major influence in his life, lived with him until
her death in 1886. The following year, the 51-year-old industrial baron
married Louise Whitfield (1857-1946), who was two decades his junior and the
daughter of a New York City merchant. The couple had one child, Margaret
(1897-1990). The Carnegies lived in a Manhattan mansion and spent summers
in Scotland, where they owned Skibo Castle, set on some 28,000 acres.
Carnegie died at age 83 on August 11, 1919, at Shadowbrook, his estate in
Lenox, Massachusetts. He was buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in North
Tarrytown, New York.
Citation Information
Article Title
Andrew Carnegie
Author
History.com Editors
Website Name
HISTORY
URL
https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/andrew-carnegie
Access Date
February 17, 2021
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
February 9, 2021
Original Published Date
November 9, 2009
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