Andrew Carnegie - Book Review

University of Lone star

Andrew Carnegie Book Review

Cassie Harra

HIST1311-4010

Professor

March 20, 2017

        The book Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big Business written by Harold Livesay, published in 2007 was an insightful non-fiction historical bibliography covering the years of Andrew Carnegie between 1835 and 1919.  Harold Livesay decides to write a book about Andrew Carnegie after have working as a poor man doing small jobs, and the as a railroad yard master and truck driver delivering steel to construction sites. Livesay soon decides to go on to get his doctorate from John Hopkins University and write this bibliography on a man that inspired him, Andrew Carnegie. Livsay writes this book to inform the people of who Andrew Carnegie was and how inspirational he can be; and to get the record straight on who Andrew Carnegie was knowing how mischaracterized he can be. The book is to help people realize that “American Dream” to influence America is only steps away with humbleness, hard work and time.

        Andrew Carnegie and his family sail from Great Britain to Scotland as they hear from his mother’s sisters of the good and bad times there. His father, Will Carnegie, soon looses his job after machines begin taking over and industrialization takes over factories and peoples way of life. His home and everything he has promised his boys is gone. This causes him and his family to move to the New World in 1848. Andrew Carnegie watches his father fail many times but admires his mother as she is determined to rise above. Andrew Carnegie and his family do better than eve in the new world; he has a job in coal and oil textile mills until he gets an opportunity from his Uncle Hogan to be apart of a telegraph company. Andrew Carnegie realized the importance of his job and works hard to get promoted. He soon gets recognized for his hard work by Tom Scott, superintended of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and wants him to be his secretary and personal telegrapher. Scott soon pushes him to invest in his first stock, which helps him become apart of the Columbia Oil Company with William Coleman. He soon realizes he dislikes the smell and messiness and invests in the Keystone Bridge Company. He soon makes his money through his investment and leaves the Railroad industry and later moves to New York. He is later on sent to Europe where he does exceptionally well as a bond salesman. After his last bond finance sale he returns to begin his new business in Pittsburg, where he manufactures iron and steel. He soon gets the confidence to expand the business by installing a blast furnace that maximizes his output on iron. He then begins to focus on steel even though his steel firm occurs during the Panic of 1873. Carnegie defends his credit with the bank making sure the bank knows he is not endorsed. Carnegie continues to build companies such as he purchases Homestead and solves their supply problem, the reason he was offered Homestead. While Carnegie is Scotland and leaves Frick with labor issues, they soon have an issue. This leads to a battle and Carnegie believing Frick is stubborn for not following his policies.  Towards the end of Carnegie’s time he is known to have the “best-known” manufacture in the world and publishes three books. His autobiography explains his hardship with up keeping his name after the Homestead tragedy. Even with the hardship, Andrew Carnegie is known as the richest man in the world after he sells his company to J.P. Morgan to become United States Steel.