Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835, in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. He was born to a humble family and grew up with all the hardships that come with being born from a family with a poor background. His father was a handloom weaver. As a boy, he used to work in a coffee factory where he rose to the position of division superintendent. He invested part of his salary in iron and oil companies. In the 1870s, he ventured into steel business and through his effort, the industry became one of the dominant businesses at that time 1 . He was able to start his company known as Carnegie Steel Company which he later sold at US$480 billion and devoted the rest of his life to helping others 2 . He is known in American history as an industrialist and philanthropist commonly remembered for expanding the American steel industry in the 1880s to 1890s. Before he died on August 11, 1919, Carnegie had given away over US$350 million in a span of 15 years to foundations and charities. According to his personal lawyer, he gave out 90% of his lifetime fortunes to charity. At one time in 1889, he wrote an article entitled “The Gospel of Wealth” which was meant to urge all wealthy people across the globe to be generous and share their fortunes with the less fortunate.
In the Gospel of Wealth , Carnegie believed that it is the obligation of those who are fortunate to help their less fortunate people. In this article, he follows the theory of social Darwinism that states that through natural selection only the fittest organisms survive. Therefore, rich men and women should strive to use their surplus wealth to benefit other people and ensure they all move together without living others to be dragged behind by the hardships of life. As opposed to people who preach and do the opposite, Carnegie followed his philosophy of generosity by supporting various cultural, educational, and social courses 3 . Despite bringing steel revolution in the United States through his company, he is remembered for sponsoring the establishment of hundreds of libraries in the country and some other foreign nations. He also provided subsidies which helped the federal government to fund teaching, scientific research, and security programs.
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The story of Carnegie is told in American history for being a philanthropist. However, some people forget that his story is unique because he came from a humble beginning, struggled and scaled his way up to become a very rich man in the history of the U.S. At some point in his life he was an immigrant but never lost hope in succeeding. He used to say, “The immigrant is the capable, energetic, ambitious, discontented man.” His childhood experiences enabled him to eye the opportunities of life and to become industrious 4 . He believed that money is not of any value if it is not used to support the welfare of the whole community. In his article, the Gospel of Wealth, he said: "The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced." Historians have described the life, beliefs, historical figure, and great actions of Andrew Carnegie in their historical works. The most outstanding achievement was his support in founding 2,509 libraries of which 1,679 are built in the United States.
Scholarship regarding Albert Carnegie focuses on his early life, his path to becoming one of the wealthiest Americans, his philanthropic life, and his views for leading a generous life. According to Nasaw David, Carnegie was never a proud man despite having achieved a lot in life. The poor family background that he was brought up in taught him to be humble. While conducting his steel business, Nasaw states that Carnegie preferred a straightforward means over quick richness 5 . In fact, he deferred with his competitor Gilded Age Industry for using dubious underhand methods to accumulate wealth. Nasaw argues that Carnegie’s act of giving out the wealth he had worked for to the less fortunate and to public docket was a way of returning the accumulated fortune to the rightful owners. According to him, he rose from a poor background and it was the support of the community that made him reach that far and it was only prudent if he thanked the community by empowering it. Nasaw concludes in his article entitled Andrew Carnegie that the success of Carnegie lies in his tactic of giving more back to the society which built for him a better reputation compared to his contemporaries and attracted more investors.
The success of major investors lies in the relationship between philanthropic endeavors and the business. Charles Harvey and his collaborators believe that Andrew Carnegie applied entrepreneurial philanthropy approach in his business activities which enabled him to succeed over his counterparts 6 . They argue that any business project that yields positive outcomes to the social and cultural parameters of the society has higher chances of growing economically. For instance, Harvey states that the society associates philanthropy with goodness which enabled Carnegie to build a strong social network with a high social standing that enabled his ideas and products to sell on a grand scale. In another historical article by Jillian Gordon and Mairi Maclean, they support the incorporation of philanthropy in business by suggesting that Carnegie converted his surplus money into better use which influenced his business and products positively 7 .
Carnegie tried to introduce philanthropy in entrepreneurship research literature by suggesting that businesses should not focus on competition and accumulating profits alone. Eleanor Shaw supports this argument by stating that, “the modern businesses are aggressive with making profits and end up using any means to beat the competition and enjoy the competitive advantage 8 ." Shaw believes that the unhealthy competition experienced in the market mix today would not have been experienced in the business world if people embraced the virtue of generosity and strived to serve the community like Carnegie. In a biography of Andrew Carnegie written by Harold Livesay, "the greatness of any person is not measured by what they have achieved but is based on what the society says about them depending on what they have given back to the society 9 .” He argues that Carnegie is remembered as one of the greatest captains of industry and philanthropists in the history of the United States not for transforming the sector of steel but for giving back the fortunes of the industry to the people who made it a success.
James Howard Bridge in his article The Inside History of the Carnegie Steel Company: A Romance of Millions , argues that the good deeds that someone does will always overshadow the bad ones. For instance, Carnegie was caught between bitter controversies with his business where his big brother was part of it. In settling the dispute, he suggested a buy-out clause meant to benefit his brother but it ended up destroying his brother’s firm 10 . But he adds that not very many historians include such accounts when narrating the life of Andrew Carnegie in his autobiography. He believes that the good ideas and actions that Carnegie brought to the American people made him be remembered in the past and present as a good person.
The life of Andrew Carnegie is told by John Winkler as one characterized with an extraordinary story that has been incredible and consistent with the reasonable philosophical thoughts of the modern society 11 . Les Standiford argues that Carnegie was a unique man who could transform any business rivalry into his advantage band that of the community. Standiford argues that, despite entrusting his business to a ruthless partner, Henry Clay Frick, Carnegie managed to rectify the mess he had created on the South Fork dam 12 . Rather than letting the mess created on the dam by Frick affect the neighboring communities because it was not his fault, he used his money to rectify the situation. This shows his act of selflessness and his intelligence on using the opposite nature of Frick to his advantage.
Scholars also attempt to explain and rationalize the reasons why some rich people decide to help the less fortunate. In his article Patronage and Philanthropy, Paul Krause focuses on the Industrial sector of America discussing the great names behind its success and then compares the previous philanthropists to modern ones 13 . He counters the beliefs held by critics that the generosity of Andrew Carnegie was out of hypocrisy and guilt. He argues that the belief held by some people that Carnegie's ruthlessness in business made him a bad person is wrong. He states that Carnegie was only ruthless to his competitors who he believed was not working in the interests of the society. And to show his good intentions, another scholar, Bernard Alderson supports Carnegie’s actions by stating that the climax of the millions that Carnegie made from his business was to put them into the noble and most beneficial use by preventing the same money from harming innocent and helpless people 14 . He was implying that other industrialists were accumulating wealth for their self-interests, however, Carnegie strived to beat them by accumulating more of what they would have acquired and giving it back to the society. And thus, most considered him successful due too his activities and the fact that he was generous made him get endeared to the masses.
Bibliography
Alderson, Bernard. Andrew Carnegie: The Man and His Work . Doubleday, Page & Company, 1902.
Bridge, James Howard. The Inside History of the Carnegie Steel Company: A Romance of Millions . University of Pittsburgh Pre, 2014.
Gordon, Jillian, Charles Harvey, and Mairi Maclean. "Andrew Carnegie, World-Making and the Logic of Contemporary Entrepreneurial Philanthropy." In 14th Annual Conference of the European Business History Association 2010 . 2010.
Harvey, Charles, Mairi Maclean, Jillian Gordon, and Eleanor Shaw. "Andrew Carnegie and the foundations of contemporary entrepreneurial philanthropy." Business History 53, no. 3 (2011): 425-450.
Krause, P. L. (1988). Patronage and Philanthropy in Industrial America: Andrew Carnegie and the Free Library in Braddock, Pa. Western Pennsylvania History: 1918-2016 , 71 (2), 127-146.
Livesay, Harold C. Andrew Carnegie and the rise of big business . Longman, 2007.
Nasaw, David. Andrew Carnegie . Penguin, 2007.
Shaw, Eleanor, Jillian Gordon, Charles Harvey, and Mairi Maclean. "Exploring contemporary entrepreneurial philanthropy." International Small Business Journal 31, no. 5 (2013): 580-599.
Standiford, Les. Meet you in hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the bitter partnership that transformed America . Broadway Books, 2006.
Winkler, John Kennedy. Incredible Carnegie: The Life of Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919 . The Vanguard Press, 1931.
