Homestead Act

Henry Clay Frick was labeled as a robber baron. Frick was born to a farming family in western Pennsylvania and received little formal education (Encyclopedia of World Biography). His grandfather was a wealthy miller and distiller and Frick became bookkeeper for his grandfather's businesses at age 19 (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Frick was knowledgeable of the potential value of coking coal deposits for the developing steel industry (YourDictionary). With financial help from relatives and…

When I think of business gone wrong, I can’t help to think about the near massacre of the Homestead Mill Strike in 1892. This was around the era of when America was revolutionizing industries and establishing the countries economy. Some may say that these were ruthless and cutthroat times of business. However, one man came out of it extremely successful and made a name for himself, it was Andrew Carnegie, a true “entrepreneur.” Andrew Carnegie was born and raised in the country of Scotland. He…

It may seem odd to think that without Bill Gates this world may never have come to the technological advancements that east today. Bill Gates was born October 28, 1955 in Seattle. He and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975. Bill Gates never finished college but went on to become the richest man alive, changing the world through technological innovation and business strategies and helping the less fortunate through charities and donations. Bill Gates did not even finished college but that…

Although much has changed since the nineteenth century, the idea of what makes an American truly great has not. When speaking about the nature of Americans at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in 2011, our president explained that “[Americans] don 't expect others to do for us what we can do for ourselves”. This ideal has remained true since well before the nineteenth-century, when determination was the only catalyst for change. The greatest example of this determination was the rags to…

He grew up in poverty and became the richest man on earth. His name was Andrew Carnegie. And he is my hero. I admire him the most because of his persistency and generosity. When he was a young man, his boss Thomas A. Scott told Carnegie: I want a bridge. Over the Mississippi river. A bridge that is strong enough to hold a train. With this we can continue the westward expansion (Keep in mind, it was a wish not a command). Back in the days, just after the Civil War, the railroads were getting…

The events of the Homestead Strike on July 6th, 1892 can be classified as one of the most dramatic incidents in the History of Labor and Capital. The workers and management maintained good relations. In 1889, a three year contract was renewed. However, when the contract was set to be renewed once again, management decided to step up production demands. Steel prices had dropped dramatically so Henry Frick, the manager, wanted to decrease his employees' wages. With the employees and Frick…

Pinkerton detective agency to go to where the workers were striking and reopen Carnegie mill with the old workers or with new ones. However, when the detectives were sent on barges, they were spotted and word was sent around and all of the population of Homestead rushed to the river bank and began killing every detective. However, a truce was formed and the Pinkerton men were allowed to walk out of the town with no harm. Four guards ended up being killed and everyone else sustained injuries.…

The Homestead lockout and strike of 1892 had a big impact on the labor movement of the late 19th century. The misapplication of Darwinian thought is used to explain the misuse of free market techniques. Based on the lecture given in class, Social Darwinism was developed by British philosopher Herbert Spencer who applied Charles Darwin’s theory of biological evolution to society. It is described as a process that came as a result of competition where the strong succeeded and the weak died.…

Carnegie paid his workers only about $1.81 when they worked for about 10.67 hours, which was one of the highest paying job in manufacturing. Whereas, Carnegie statistically made $9,200 ($92,000 as of today) every hour (Doc I). Also, during the Homestead Strike, Carnegie knew something bad was going to happen but ran off and left his Vice President Henry Clay Frick who used methods that were horrible to get what he wanted (Film).The relationship with his workers is a good reason why Andrew…

Reading about Andrew Carnegie I got to learn more about the Gilded Age as well as the American Society during the time. Coming from a small house in Scotland to making 23 million dollars a year, Carnegie made the American dream a reality. Growing the steel industry to being bigger than any other company, Carnegie provided jobs and built foundations off his industry. Doing this Carnegie believed in Social Darwinism and felt that the working class was meant to stay poor. Underpaying his workers…