Man Made of SteelEmma Woods

A presentation about the life of Andrew Carnegie

Carnegie Before CorporationThe Early Years

• Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25 185 in Dunfermline Scotland

• His father was a linen maker and his mother repaired shoes to help support the family (both working people/ commoners)

• His family moved to the United States when he was 13 and his father business was beginning to fail

• Lived in Alleghany, Pennslyvania• He began working as a bobbin boy in a linen

factory at that young age for $1.20 a week (a very small wage even then)

Carnegie Before CorporationThe Early Years

• He acquired most of his education at the local library

• His defining moment was becoming the telegraph operator at the Pennsylvania Railroad Company making $35 dollars a week

• Carnegie knew hard work. He quoted, “"I began to learn what poverty meant. It was burnt into my heart then that my father had to beg for work. And then and there came the resolve that I would cure that when I got to be a man.“

Smoothing the EdgesEarly Business

• The superintendent of the company saw Carnegie’s hard work, admired it, and offered him a position as his secretary (allowing him many opportunities)

• He then succeeded and became the superintendent himself

• While still working at the railroad he invested in railway cars and bought 1/5 of the stock in Keystone Bridge Company

• He made many trips to Britain and was fascinated by advancements in steel

• Especially the Bessemer process, which he saw would eventually revolutionize the steel industry, and industry as a whole.

Rags to RichesBig Business

• Carnegie became most well known for his steel industry

• Especially the Bessemer process which he introduced ,at large , to the United States for the first time

• Established his first steel company in 1873• Centered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania• Henry Frick was his main partner and

chairman while Carnegie was in New York on business or in Scotland visiting his family (even though they did not always see eye-to-eye)

• He also believe in making his workers feel like a part of his company

Rags to RichesBig Business

• Carnegie used the strategy of vertical integration

• This process consisted of owning every aspect of manufacturing from the mine to the processing of the product

• Carnegie was a philanthropist• He published The Gospel of Wealth, which

spoke of the responsibilities of the rich to the poor

• Later in his life, he sold his company to J.P. Morgan for over 400 million

• The Carnegie Foundation still funds public works projects throughout the United States

The Point of a PicturePolitical Cartoon

• Carnegie is wearing a quilt because he was a Scotsmen

• He is standing on top of a bill for free university education because of his philanthropist ways and belief in public education (as he was educated by the public)

• The graduation caps filled with money represent how he donated to education and those who could not afford to educate themselves

• The money in the air could be representative of the Carnegie Foundation

Knowledge is PowerWorks Cited

• "Carnegie Corporation of New York: About Andrew Carnegie." Carnegie Corporation of New York: Home. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. <http://carnegie.org/ab out-us/foundation-history/about-andre w-carnegie/>.

• "Andrew Carnegie." Spartacus Educational. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAcarnegie.htm>.

• "American Experience . The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie . People & Events | Andrew Carnegie | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/peopleevents/pande01.html>.