Title: What was a positive contribution of Andrew Carnegie? - eNotes.com
Headings: What was a positive contribution of Andrew Carnegie?
Industrialization and Captains of Industry
What was a positive contribution of Andrew Carnegie?
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Content: Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Bridgett Sumner, M.A.
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It can be said that even before he began his philanthropic efforts, Andrew Carnegie was a job creator and stimulator of the American economy. He built Carnegie Steel plants throughout the U.S. and also ran businesses concerned with procuring coal, and transporting through railroads and shipping, both the raw materials needed for manufacturing and delivering finished goods. After selling Carnegie Steel for hundreds of millions of dollars, Carnegie turned his attention to philanthropy. A notable recipient of his generosity was the New York Public Library. He also founded the technology school that eventually became Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and he funded foundations for advancements in teaching and international peace. Carnegie wrote The Gospel of Wealth, which espoused his philosophy of how the wealthy can best put their money to use in helping others who have been less successful. Approved by eNotes Editorial Team
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Andrew Carnegie was a multimillionaire steel magnate and a remorseless competitor as a businessman, but he was also a philanthropist who believed that the very wealthy should use their wealth for the benefit of society as a whole. In what he called the "Gospel of Wealth," he argued that the wealthy should, during their lives, administer their wealth in such a way as to benefit society as a whole. Carnegie was self-educated and attributed much of his success to the ability to borrow books from a benefactor in his youth.