1

Angel Garcia

Mr. Sekioka

American History

05 March 2023

Andrew Carnegie’s Impact on Society

Andrew Carnegie comes from a humble beginning, being him a 13 year old working at a

factory all day long to later study at night. Andrew Carnegie’s interest in education begins during

this period of his life because they lent him books to study, however, he focused when he grew

up on businesses and money. Working as a telegraph messenger boy he gets to know who will

become his boss, the Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Carnegie later takes the job of

his boss as the Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Carnegie’s new job gives him the

opportunity to invest in companies what were not expected to have to much profits, however, this

investments gave him the opportunity to invest in other sectors such as oil. As Carnegie grew

rich he founded the first steel company in the U.S. the keystone Bridge company which later

became Carnegie steel. Carnegie's wealth was now to grandiose, therefore, he started thinking in

ways to help others, hence he suffered when he was a kid.

Carnegie starts his philanthropic carrer in 1901 after he sold his company

Carnegie steel to J.P. Morgan for what is now 12.3 billion dollars. Carnegie started to change his

way of thinking and wrote a book, “ The Gospel of Wealth”, in which he stated that it was the

moral responsibility of the wealthy to seek for the welfare of those who didn’t had opportunities.
 2

Carnegie’s first contribution was in 1902 when he founded the Carnegie fund for

scientific research. Carnegie later on wanted to boost education and remember how a Coronel

lent him books to read, so he decided to fund 2,509 libraries across Scotland and The United

States, in addition to this he also gave 125 million dollars to The Carnegie Corporation with the

purpose to aid colleges and schools. His generosity towards public libraries entertained and

educated man thus some reached out to remote places at the time like Hawaii. Carnegie’s

libraries are still present and have helped many Americans across all the country.

In 1911 Andrew Carnegie’s founds the Carnegie Corporation of new york which has

made great impact in today's society, being them the reason we have insulin to treat diabetics.

Everything starts when the Carnegie Corporation of New York offered a grant to Nathiel Potter,

so he could study diabetes and a cure for it. When Potter died in 1919 a colleague William

Sansum took over his clinic the Potter Clinic in California. Meanwhile,The Carnegie Corporation

of New York was funding research in Canada too extract insulin from canines. The canadian

researchers find out how to extract it and inject it to humans, and by 1920 the first patient who

was treated survived due to canine insulin. Hence the process of extraction of insulin from

canines was slow the Foundation helped the Canadians pair with Sansum, who later discovered

how to make more pure and strong insulin. The Corporation later gave funds to the mass

production of it, and by 1923 the first insulin kits began to appear saving many lives.

In 1910, Andrew Carnegie gave a fund of 10 million dollars to create The Carnegie

Endowment for International Peace. This institution intends to protect and promote international

cooperation by advancing knowledge and building realtions around the world.By the 1970s the
 3

endowment had been a mediator between nuclear matters reducing the risk of war, becoming

now a major nonproliferation activist. The Carnigie Endowment for International Peace now

dedicates to the research of solutions to problems that rise from technological and military

advances. This researchers are extremely important because they help policy makers choose the

best decisions.

Andrew Carnegie a man whos legacy and philosophy still lives. His philosophy is what

drove him, and its sprouts are now visible. To the creation of insulin to the avoidance of nuclear

wars and world peace. Andrew Carnegie’s ideals were controvesial at the time because workers

thought he gave away money that wasn’t his, but now we can conclude that his ideals were

humanistic. His legacy is a lesson that says that we have to learn to be humane.
 4

References

● “Andrew Carnegie's Story.” Home,

https://www.carnegie.org/interactives/foundersstory/#!/.

● Andrew Carnegie, Philanthropist,

https://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/carnegie/aa_carnegie_phil_3.html.

● “Andrew Carnegie.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 6 Jan.

2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andrew-Carnegie.

● Andrew Carnegie’s Surprising Legacy - History.

https://www.history.com/news/andrew-carnegies-surprising-legacy.

● “Discovery of Insulin.” Philanthropy Roundtable,

https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/discovery-of-insulin/.

● Nasaw, David. “The 19th-Century Critique of Big Philanthropy.” Slate Magazine, Slate,

10 Nov. 2006,

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/11/the-19th-century-critique-of-big-philanthro

py.html#:~:text=Labor%20leaders%20condemned%20Carnegie%20for,and%20a%20gr

ave%20political%20peril.%E2%80%9D.