Andrew Carnegie
Pennsylvania has been home to many influential people. One such person was Andrew Carnegie. Despite the many early years he spent with his family in poverty, he decided to become successful and give his money away to help other people relish in his success. Andrew Carnegie was an influential Pennsylvanian because he was a hard worker, a caring businessman, and he was determined to grow the steel industry.
Andrew Carnegie had quite the interesting life. Born on November 25, 1835, in Dunfermline, Scotland, he lived with his father, mother, and brother. He originally grew up in Scotland, but then he moved to Allegheny, Pennsylvania at the age of thirteen. A few years down the road, he decided to work on the steel beams that were used to make railroads. After a few years of working on the railroads, he realized his opportunity to grow the steel industry, so he did just that. With all of his tenacity and vigor, he eventually became, according to history.com, “one of the men who built America.” He is considered that because of his care to help build America and its economy.
Although Andrew Carnegie eventually achieved great things, he also experienced struggles. One struggle was that he grew up in a poor family. He overcame that by going to work in a factory at age thirteen in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, “earning $1.20 a week,” according to biography.com. Later in life, he faced the struggle of having his own steel factory with his workers going on strike because they disliked the low wages that they were being given. They went on strike because Andrew Carnegie hired someone by the name of Henry Clay Frick who was in charge of paying the workers. Andrew Carnegie did not really know the personality of Henry and hired him to work with the money that was being made. Once Henry successfully cut the wages of the workers down to nothing, the workers went on strike and protested against the low wages. Eventually, Andrew overcame those struggles and headed on his way to successfully running his steel factory.
After all of the hard work he put into the steel industry to earn him billions of dollars, he still had one big challenge ahead of him. That humongous challenge was to give away all of his money that he earned with building the steel industry. He tried for 10 years to give away all his money, but even with that time, he still had billions of dollars left. When people brought up how much money he had, even he was astounded at the amount. After being told that he had given away about $350 million by his financial advisor, he said, “My God! Where did I ever get all that money!” After all that giving, he proposed an idea that the wealthy people in this world should work the hardest to help raise money for those who don’t have as much. Andrew Carnegie died in Lenox, Massachusetts on August 11, 1919.
Andrew Carnegie was influential because of his care to develop a growing industry and his determination. He was also very humble even though he had an impressive amount of money. His humbleness came through when he decided to give $350 million away to charity, institutions, and universities. Even despite the struggles he and his company faced, he always found a way to grow and do something better. He is an example of someone who cared about growing and overcoming his problems, and is someone that we could all look up to.
Quotes From Andrew Carnegie
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.
No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.
People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.
There is little success where there is little laughter.Page Break
Works Cited
Text
"Andrew Carnegie." The History.com Website. Ed. History.com Editors. A+E Networks. URL. http://www.biography.com/people/andrew-carnegie-9238756 Web. 12 Jan. 2016.
"Andrew Carnegie Biography." The Biography.com Website. Ed. Biography.com Editors. A+E Television Networks. URL. http://www.history.com/topics/andrew-carnegie. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.
Quotes
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