Research paper
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie can be considered by many to be one of the central figures who helped in the industrialization of America. He believed that with hard work, a good education and an optimistic attitude, anyone could succeed. Using those values, Carnegie was able to turn his life into a true “rags to riches” story.
Born, from humble origins on November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland, he was the son of a poor Scottish weaver. Growing up, Carnegie learned his values from both his parents, though their personalities were opposing. Carnegie’s mother, Margaret Morrison Carnegie, having to raise her children in extreme poverty, taught Carnegie to put himself and his own needs before others, in order to survive. While his father Will, was part of a British working class movement in Scotland during a time of great social unrest. This movement strove to make life better for the working man and fought the many injustices of the nobility system. This impacted young Carnegie, and taught him the value of helping people who weren’t as fortunate as himself. Together his parents also taught him the great importance of having an education in order to take advantage of the many opportunities around him.
At the age of eight, a steam-powered textile mill opened in Dunfermline. The power looms could weave cloth faster and less costly than Will Carnegie’s hand looms, therefore destroying the Carnegie family’s already bleak existence. It was soon after that in 1848, that Will Carnegie emigrated his family from poverty stricken Scotland to the “Land of Opportunity” in the United States.
The Carnegies decided to settle themselves in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Life, financially for the Carnegies, was no better in the U.S then it was back in Dunfermline, forcing thirteen year old Carnegie to take a job in the local cotton mill as a bobbin boy. As a bobbin boy, Carnegie would change the spools of thread at the mill...
