Andrew Carnegie's Essay: The Gospel Of Wealth

Improved Essays
The Gospel of Wealth
Andrew Carnegie was the incarnation and manifestation of an ideal American Dream as he began his career as a replaceable servant and rose to power as he became a premier American Industrialist. Through years of hard work and determination he had finally become an established member of society when he started his Carnegie Steel Company. After attaining his massive wealth he published an essay in regards to the wealthy’s treatment of the laissez-faire, concerned about social and economic ideas of those who were not as well off as them. By focusing on the justification of laissez-faire capitalism and the assertion of philanthropic responsibilities to wealthy industrialists who profited from their exploitation of an unregulated economy, a certain etiquette was assumed by those who were financially stable.
…show more content…
This man truly considers this rebirth of an industrial society to be a flawless ideal as he continuously worships the system that has provided his wealth and fortunes. This new economy allows the poor to enjoy products that the previous wealthy societies could not, and the construction of an American dream coinciding with capitalism and reward. And any people who contest this thought will be proven incorrect once a comparison the previous and current societies are vocalized, as the entire human race benefits from such an integral system. He then proceeds to question why the system has allowed very few to attain total control of it while others and also explains exactly why he has written this essay and what the need of it is. Furthermore, there are only three viable methods to dispose of wealth: inheritance, public purpose, and finally administration from the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Robber Baron Dbq

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Gospel of Wealth has become a way of life and the fundamental screen of society. The Gospel of Wealth has given a way for businessmen to help the less fortunate. Through ways such as building libraries and through “maximum prosperity” (Document I). Andrew Carnegie was also known as a “robber baron”. He founded the Carnegie Steel Company These things helped increase pay for workers and a way to be educated in order to grow and become successful.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The pursuit and maximization of wealth are clearly brought out in the book, and it also shows how capitalism was shaped by individuals like Vanderbilt. The author points that “Commodore” ended up being the richest man in America in the 19th century, mostly at the expense of other merchants. At the time of his demise, estimates of his fortune stood at $100,000,000, and to have amassed such wealth having come from a humble background is a tremendous feat. The author’s portrayal of Vanderbilt as a competitive individual who was overly aggressive and ruthless when it came to business seems to support his climb into the class of elite at his time. The form that capitalism took up at that time tends to differ from the current form.…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Andrew Carnegie before dying in, his contributions to society and to the world still live on today through his hard work and many sacrifices, but throughout Andrew`s life he loved to read so it made even more sense to establish more than 2,000 public libraries. Another contribution he gave in philanthropy was the establishment of he Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and funded the building of The Hague Palace of Peace, which houses the World Court, in the Netherlands. But not only did he revolutionize modern steel making and earn himself quite an achievement but gave away almost 90% of his fortune, but did it with the piece of mind that the next generation after him shall have something to live with and learn from. Andrew Carnegie…

    • 147 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Andrew Carnegie's point of view on the relationship between the rich and the poor is very basic. He trusted that there would dependably be rich and poor and that was a normal for the progression of development. “Much better this great irregularity than universal squalor" he says (Carnegie, 1). Without this contrast between the classes, he trusted that we would not be also arranged similarly as general riches as we are today. He clearly trusted that riches was a need of life.…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Throughout history many people have been discriminated because of where they come from. In “Two Views on the Philippines Question: Excerpts from Andrew Carnegie, Distant Possessions,” we see how Andrew Carnegie feels about the people from Philippines, he considers that they are arrogant and that Americans cannot be grown there. Carnegie feels that people from the Philippines do not know what being an American is like because in order to be a true American he thinks people have to be born and grow up in America, he thinks that Americans cannot be people who do not come from the United States of America. What Carnegie does not realize is that what makes someone a true American is a person who respects the country and has the values that make…

    • 329 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although far outclassing many other colorful characters in American history, in the present age, Carnegie’s philosophy is also greatly admired and Carnegie’s philanthropy…

    • 2369 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Andrew Carnegie's Life

    • 236 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Living life in Scotland during the 19th century was not uncomplicated, for there was much poverty. Although, there were still people who believed in the importance of working hard. William Carnegie, a handloom weaver and Margaret Carnegie, a shoe binder did all they could to live sufficiently. On November of 1835, Margaret gave birth to her first child, whom would later move on into being one of the most successful businessmen of his time. Andrew Carnegie, philanthropist and industrialist rose his way to the top, from earning $1.20 a week in a factory, to soon the most profitable businessmen in America.…

    • 236 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Andrew Carnegie was born, on November 25,1835, in Dunfermline,Fife,Scotland. He grew up to become one of the wealthiest businessmen in America. His family once believed in the importance of books and education, although he didn’t have a formal education when he was a kid. His father was once a weaver and a profession. he once was replaced by robots for his job.…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to Carnegie, wealth can be distributed in three ways, first passing it down to the following family generation. Carnegie’s opinion on leaving money to the family was not a wise choice not just because the family may not be deserving of the money or it being a sense…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Initially, Carnegie had trouble defining the best form of charity. Carnegie believed that wealthy men have a duty to set an example of modesty and provide for their dependents (North American Review 1). In a 1901 issue of Pall Mall Gazette, he hints towards the idea that an ideal government would redistribute its surplus of wealth. However, he does later argue that the great irregularity in wealth inequality is far better than universal squalor (Pall Mall Gazette 2). It was clear that by the end of his business career, Carnegie felt charity was an obligation of affluent individuals, not the government.…

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Industrialist Andrew Carnegie’s article “Wealth,” later known as “The Gospel of Wealth,” was published in the North American Review in June of 1889. In his writing, he rejected the traditional goals of charity. He depended less on carefully discriminating between the “worthy” and “unworthy” recipients than on attacking the root causes of unequal distributions of wealth itself. Carnegie believed that wealth should be invested in such worthwhile ventures for the wellbeing of the public being rather than using money senselessly and ineffectively. With regard to Carnegie’s belief, he indicates that the estates of the dead millionaire, or so to say, should be taxed increasingly so that the tax can go towards helping the public.…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Andrew Carnegie believed that it was the duty of the wealthy to help the poor. His idea of help came in the form of opportunities “to help those who will help themselves.” The wealthy would provide opportunities, not direct aid, to the poor; these opportunities could take the forms of “free libraries, parks, and means of recreation by which men are helped in body and mind; works of art, certain to give pleasure and improve the general condition of the people.” However, these opportunities did not really help the poor.…

    • 1678 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the Gilded Age many people used greed to their advantage of becoming well known and wealthy. The definition of greed is the selfish desire for something, especially wealth and power. To the more fortunate, greed was a great thing because they kept gaining power from what they were doing, but to the less fortunate greed was seen as an awful thing because it gave them nothing to benefit from. Some people during this time that were seen as greedy would often give back to the community what they had taken away from it after they had passed. They would do this type of good deed to clear their name.…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The central theme of Carnegie's argument about the Gospel of Wealth is that rich people are superior to all others and should be allowed to use their money to help the less "fit" people. Carnegie believed in Social Darwinism. He believed that the fact that a person was rich showed that he was more fit than others. This meant that the rich man was the one who knew the most about how to prosper in society.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Andrew Carnegie was known for “destroying the unions”, which made the name robber baron for himself (Hewitt, Lawson). Although he was destroying the unions, he also gave back as well, which caused more of a dispute because people were concerned with why he destroyed something, then wanted to give back so much. People in this time period should have accepted and welcomed the wealth in hands of few because as we discussed previously he earned the money himself, and even though he was one of the wealthiest of this time period and had a notorious name for himself, he also excelled in philanthropy. Carnegie makes a valid point in his Gospel of Wealth where he states, “Those with great wealth must be socially responsible and use their assets to help others” (Gospel of Wealth). The people of this time period should have accepted the wealth in his hands because years later he gave his money back in huge bulks, to educational matters to share with the country, which states that they should have accepted the wealth in few hands because he ends up giving his wealth back in the long run (Hewitt, Lawson).…

    • 1765 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays