Homestead Strike

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…

In 1892, the Homestead (steel) Strike occurred, which involved skilled worker at Carnegie steel mill, where jobs were becoming more and more automated, and Carnegie was able to hire less workers for lower wages, almost as if the workers were competing with a machine for a job…

Would a person who is willing to donate millions of dollars to one community have the right to be called a hero? Usually the answer is yes to most people because it is an act of kindness, setting aside time and effort to help their community, a hero-like thing to do. However, does that make that person a good person? What if they could have stolen that money, be involved in illegal activities, long-story short the public honestly does not know the true story behind it. The public only knows what…

Andrew Carnegie was an important United States businessman in the late 1800's and early 1900's born in Scotland in 1835. At age 13 he immigrated to the United States with his family looking for better opportunities. Carnegie found the idea of the Bessemer Process and decided to expand on the idea to make steel in a faster less expensive way. With his ideas the United States was able to expand. Although his ideas may have made a change how the United States industrialized some of his business…

The advantages of the railroad were due to the demand for faster and more convenient transportation. They created more direct routes, greater speed and safety, dependable schedules, year-round service, and more space to travel. They connected many cities together and went about 50 miles an hour, which would take a whole day on horseback or stagecoach. It carried cattle, fruit, and goods it had never previously been carried. The Railroad Empire grew at the end of the Civil War. It expanded from…

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…

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 and favoring against Labor Unions didn't make him popular to the Lower Classes causing riots and strikes in the industry. While Carnegie was a hero to the U.S as a country, his ideas and business model did not make him a hero to working class and factory…

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.…

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…

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…