Industrial Giants Part 2!

Wow, updating and I got into a fight, I apologize.


Rockefeller wasn't the only titan of industry, there were many others.

While most people consider Superman to be the man of steel, the original owner of this title was Mr. Andrew Carnegie.

Carnegie, like Rockefeller had a rags to riches story. Born in Scotland in the 1830's, young Andrew was taught the importance of learning and hard work through his parents.

Eventually, the Carnegie clan would set sail for American, when one stormy night at sea, mischevious Andrew was swept away on the back of a bar of soap...

Ok, no, that was Fivel Mouskowitz from An American Tale...anyway, the Carnegies settled in Pennsylvania and Andrew went to work in a factory where he was paid $1.20 a week. (And you think your salary is bad...)

From there he became interested in the art of dots and dashes, the world of telegraphs. He became an assistant telegrapher for the Pennsylvania Railroad...

 

 At this position, he started learning all about the railroad.

During this time the rail road was super neat-o. Carnegie knew that in England they were building their rails out of steel while in America they were still using iron. This gave Carnegie a golden idea.

Steel is stronger than iron, therefore it would be smarter to build the railroad out of steel, from there he started investing and using different new technologies and watched as his steel company because a beast of industry.

Competition was not really a big deal for Carnegie because he was a clever guy and understood the concept of vertical integration.

Now, if you eyes just glazed over and rolled into the back of your head after reading 'vertical integration' I cannot blame you, but it really was one of Carnegie's secrets to success. In order to make steel you needed to first have iron, so Carnegie didn't just focus all his energy and money on the steel industry, but also on iron. If he didn't have to strike up any deals with anyone to get iron then he could make more money, after all, I doubt if he was out to negotiate himself into a bad deal. 

Carnegie Steel was a giant and eventually he sold his business to J.P. Morgan who then named it US Steel, and if you are familiar with the steel industry you may know that this was all in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, and if you are familiar with the NFL at all, you probably know their team are the Pittsburgh Steelers....THERE'S A REASON FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!

Anyway, just like a lot of industry giants of the time and a lot like Rockefeller, Carnegie was not fond of unionizing or workers going on strike. People accuse him of getting rich off the backs of his employees. 

Also, like Rockefeller, Carnegie gave a boat load of money to charity.

 

Carnegie believed it was the duty of the wealthy to use their money to help benefit society, this is why Carnegie is responsible for opening up numerous schools and libraries. All over the country you can find Carnegie Library's in all there are 2,800 Carnegie Libraries.

Carnegie was your typical American Dream story. He came to America with nothing and through hard work and determination he made his way to be one of the most wealthy men in the world during his time. 

I would also like to add, that even though these aren't stick figures, it creeps me out how much Carnegie looks like the Gorton's Fisherman....weird...