Topic: Andrew Carnegie and The Rise of Big Business

Order Description

You will be writing a 5 page essay using Experience History, America Firsthand, and
the book Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big Business to examine and answer one of
the two following questions:

1. In what ways did Andrew Carnegie’s career typify the American Dream laid out by
people like Horatio Alger in the nineteenth century? Was his experience similar or
different (or both) to the experiences of other immigrants? Was he typical or not?
Was it reasonable for others to aspire to be like him?

2. How did Andrew Carnegie’s business practices and experiences reflect the changes in
American society and business in this period? Was his success typical or unusual?
How was business changing in the nineteenth century? How does Carnegie’s career
reflect those changes? How did he pioneer changes?
Your paper should be based upon Experience History, America Firsthand and the
Carnegie book, not other sources. At least 70% of your citations should come from the Carnegie book.
Citation inside the text should be done with in-line citation as shown below. Every
time you quote, you should cite. Also, every time you refer to a major incident from the
book, please give a citation, even if you don’t directly quote. Remember, you need to
use citations, whether quotes or paraphrasing 3-5 times per page, unless you enjoy grade
penalties.

Quotes
“Andrew Carnegie’s rise from poor Scottish immigrant boy to ‘the richest man in the
world’ seemed to his contemporaries and to succeeding generations irrefutable
evidence of the dream’s validity. For this reason alone his career deserves
examinations, but there are even more compelling grounds for investigating his life in
detail.” Chapter 1, p. 3.
“Faced with such mixed reports, the Carnegies clung to Scotland as long as they could
despite their dwindling fortunes. They finally left because conditions at home became
intolerable, not because opportunities abroad were irresistible.” Chapter 1, p. 6 .
“Because his father failed to recognize the impending revolution and could not deal
with it when it came, Carnegie’s mother, ‘that power which never failed in any
emergency.’ stepped forward ‘to repair the family fortunes.’ Even before leaving
Scotland, Margaret has replaced Will as principal wage earner and decision maker.”
Chapter 2, p. 17.
“His most spectacular achievement–building Carnegie Steel into the world’s largest
steel producer–rested primarily on his successful transfer of the railroads’ managerial
methods to the manufacturing sector of the economy. The first industrialist to effect
this adaptation, he made his own company so efficient that his competitors had to
emulate or eliminate him.” Chapter 3, p. 33.
“Scott provided Carnegie with the strong father figure he had never had. They had
much in common: a poverty-stricken childhood lacking in paternal leadership, a
restless drive to succeed, an ability to master detail, a charismatic personality, and a
determination to acquire through self-education the culture and urbanity that
circumstances had denied them.” Chapter 4, p. 52.
“Carnegie learned the lesson well; production, not speculation, paid off. He was to
return to this theme time and again.” Chapter 4, p. 59.
“He became a masterful speculator, manipulating stock in Western Union and Union
Pacific, jousting with entrepreneurs Jay Gould and George Pullman. He became a
promoter of stocks and bonds, selling $30 million in Europe in five years.” Chapter 5,
p. 67.
“Spencer thus revealed to Carnegie the fundamental life process in a form that made
sense to him in the light of his own career. Reading Spencer did not make Carnegie
successful; indeed he had already made himself twice over, as a manager and as a
capitalist, before he encountered Spencer.” Chapter 5, p. 82.
“As Carnegie well knew, Henry Bessemer had found sufficient sources of
phosphorus-free ore to allow British rolling mills to contemplate mass production of
steel rails.” Chapter 6, p. 89.
“Clearly this would not do. Tooling up a business to compete for million-dollar
contracts without incorporating the ability to make accurate cost estimates might well
have ended in disaster.” Chapter 6, p. 94.
“Twice he had shown what a poor boy could do in America; the best lay just ahead.”
Chapter 6, p. 99.
“The Panic of 1873 hit Americans hard with a deeper and longer-lasting depression
than any they had experienced before. Changing conditions, moreover, intensified the
impact, for the recession crippled the industrial economy.” Chapter 7, p. 103.
“Carnegie made his choices carefully, analytically; he hired the best man whatever the
cost in wages because he realized, ‘There is no labor so cheap as the dearest in the
mechanical field.’” Chapter 7, p. 109.
“Beneath the braggadocio lay a cold, hard realism. Carnegie could ‘take the lowest
price that is bid’ sight unseen only because he knew that he had the lowest costs in the
industry and could make a profit at any competitor’s price.” Chapter 7, p. 114.
“His wealth opened this world to him, but once inside he gave and received a genuine
respect for intellectual rather than material achievements. It is hard to imagine Jay
Gould or Cornelius Vanderbilt strolling comfortably in Gladstone’s garden at
Hawardon, discussing the merits of Irish Home Rule.” Chapter 8, p. 138.
“Although the struggle for survival distracted him from other projects dear to his
heart, Carnegie the businessman triumphed in the end: Carnegie Steel became a
superb industrial unit, with an efficiency unmatched in the world; however, Carnegie
the public figure never recovered the reputation lost in the Homestead strike.” Chapter
9, p. 143.
“Quite simply they wanted Frick in charge of Carnegie Steel because he seemed likely
to make a lot of money for them by holding down wages. If Carnegie returned, his
occasional preference for adulation rather than money might prompt an expensive
settlement.” Chapter 9, p. 153.
“Never forgetting his own excitement when he himself began to climb the ‘golden
ladder,’ Carnegie at the top of that ladder carefully left it dangling where his
subordinates could see it.” Chapter 10, p. 163.
“Carnegie acquired exclusive rights to the Rockefeller ore without spending a cent,
simply because he could promise to use 1,200,000 tons of ore every year for fifty
years. No small firm could have signed such an agreement.” Chapter 10, p. 169.
“A collection of paradoxes, this man of American steel–he showed himself violent
and peace loving, ruthless and loyal, greedy and generous, boastful and diffident, vain
and doubting, brash and shy. Like his adopted country and so many of its citizens past
and present. he exhibited a curious mixture of Jeffersonian rhetoric and Hamiltonianaction.” Chapter 11. p. 207.

Customer at April 18 4:31
I do not have the version of the book. I bought Summary on bookrags.com Usernamce:[email protected] Password: 102256
Please make it believable that we have read the entire book by incorporating info from the above quotes and if appropriate use 1 or 2 of thedirect quotes directlyto where I have read the whole book, suppose the teacher can detect but i rather be on the safe side. I do not have the book sorry. For the extension I am sorry but this paper is already due late for me tomorrow is last day for me turn in.