Philanthropy: Following The Civil War

Improved Essays
Following the Civil War, philanthropy became a tactic to reinvent popular opinion of big businessmen who gained their considerable wealth through illegal means. Furthermore, even more advantageous to these wealthy elites, they controlled public policy through massive monetary donations and the creation of foundations. These corporate philanthropies are used to control the social order.
Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant who made his affluence in the American steel industry, in his last 18 years of life gave away almost 90 percent of his fortune. He created countless foundations one of them being the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT), a U.S.-based education policy and research center. By using CFAT, he formed

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    According to Foner, Carnegie distributed much of his wealth to various organizations and the creation of libraries throughout the country (Foner, 599). In 1900, Carnegie donated around one million dollars to found the Carnegie Technical Schools in Pennsylvania (cmu.edu). These technical schools expanded over the years and they are known today as Carnegie Mellon University. “The Gospel of Wealth” is the idea that was spread by Carnegie that those who amassed wealth had an obligation to use that wealth to improve the lives of others (Foner, 609).…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He used all methods to reduce the price of oil to his consumers as rebates. He gained many profits and his competitors were crushed one by one. Most of his business were fair business competition. Before his death he gave half of his fortune to medical foundations, Churches, and universities. For Carnegie he donated $350,695,654 during his life…

    • 283 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    • Name of Industrialist: Andrew Carnegie. • How did he acquire his wealth? - Andrew Carnegie was born into a family who believed in the importance of books and learning in Dunfermline, Scotland. After he immigrated to the United States in 1858, he started with his first job as a telegrapher and then invested in railroads. With constant efforts, he established the Carnegie Steel Company in 1889 that was the largest steel company in the world.…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • 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

    In document 9 it shows how generous he was with the money he makes. He gave a lot of money to many different places. The list of places he has donated to was Princeton University, TIAA, Dunfermline Trust, Homestead Relief Fund, Church organs, Carnegie Peace Endowment, Universities of Scotland, Teachers’ Pension Fund, Carnegie Institution, Free public libraries, and Carnegie Corporation. His total giving overall was…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved 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

    They failed to see that he was just manipulating the public with his money to build up his reputation. Also, the failed to see that the majority of the money he was donating was used for his own company not others. Finally, the public failed to notice where all of Andrew Carnegie 's money was really coming from, his…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved 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

    Andrew believed in the even distribution of wealth, “the duty of the man of wealth (is to) set an example of modest [...] to produce the most beneficial results for the community” (Doc M). He was also a person who donated lots of money to charity and even tried to make up for his mistakes by funding $1,450,000 to the Carnegie Corporation which is now a foundation that gives out “about $100,000,000 a year, most of it to education” (Doc N). Carnegie’s philanthropy is a good reason why Carnegie was a hero because he believed that the rich should be giving money so it is distributed evenly instead of giving all the inheritance to a family member. This way, the community would strive more as a whole. He also donated a lot a money that helped others towards their education and access to reading in free public…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Early in the nineteenth century, Andrew Carnegie was considered a captain of industry for his vast empire of steel. Carnegie would build his empire from the ground up, literally, by investing in skyscrapers, railroads, and steel. Andrew would become one of the wealthiest men in the world at the time when he sold his Carnegie Steel corporation to J.P. Morgan. As America grew in industry, it needed an increase in steel. Carnegie realized this need and acted upon it making America a world of towering steel jungles.…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many recipients of his wealth saw his donations both beneficial and as of a part of a legacy. Coinciding greatly with such institutions and individual abilities to give back and appreciate more was Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates. He, like Andrew Carnegie, is a prosperous man. Gates says he was inspired by “big, first- generation” (1) philanthropists such as John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie, who built schools, funded research, and traveled the world doing good. Those who have a lot of success in the world can choose how to give back, whether it’s giving away their money; or taking the time building a charitable institution such as the Gates Foundation [or Carnegie Libraries], he says.…

    • 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

    After a war that divided the nation into two and claimed the lives of thousands of men, the country was devastated. The relations between the North and South had crumbled, causing the country to desperately need reunification. Many changes were made in American society after the Civil War in an attempt to reunify the United States and improve the country as a whole; however, these changes were primarily detrimental to society. These changes developed across eras in American history, including reconstruction, westward expansion, and industrialization. The following periods American history incited an incorrigible level of exploitation that ultimately governed the rest of the country during the respective period and afterwards: reconstruction…

    • 1531 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although it is argumentative that some entrepreneurs of the mid-nineteenth century deserved to be crown Captains of Industry or labeled as Robber Barons, John D. Rockefeller should have been honorably regarded as a Captain of Industry due to his account on strengthening the U.S’s economy by investing in blooming American industry and becoming one of the most respected philanthropist. At the same time, his fellow businessman, Cornelius Vanderbilt was suitable of the title Robber Barons for his hated reputation and lack of charitable efforts. Post-Civil War, the United States experienced with economic boom in which business leaders dedicated themselves in ensuring the government to be kept out of their businesses. In fact, the United States’…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It seems to me that someone must do the dirty work and the difficult jobs that the benefactors are certainly not taking part in, yet Carnegie tells men to aim for the highest. In some ways it seems as if he is trying to hold society as a whole to a higher level by telling the men of the lowest tear to work towards their goals and achieve greatness. I found Carnegie to be a combination of persuasive and self-serving. In many instances his writing seemed to speak to a certain audience one that has the money to make change and the possibility transform society as a whole. However at the same time in was self-serving in that his speech really is not directed towards everyone.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays