Carnegie, Andrew (1835–1919)

KNOWN IN HIS time as “King of the Vulcans,” Andrew Carnegie is considered to have been one of the most important figures of the Gilded Age, a[Page 142] time when a thirst for huge profits held sway over conscience. As one of the so-called robber barons, Carnegie vanquished anyone who stood in his way to profit. At a time when the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 banned monopolies in the United States, the Carnegie Steel trust, which controlled the supply, fabrication, and distribution of steel, became a model for other American trusts. When Carnegie decided that he had become rich enough, he divested himself of all steel interests and devoted himself to a life of philanthropy. Carnegie gave away approximately $310 million to various charities and foundations and is most known for the 2,509 Carnegie libraries he established throughout the world.

During the Civil War, Carnegie devoted himself to his own affairs. He was, therefore, astounded when he was drafted into the Union Army in the summer of 1864. Carnegie followed the common practice of hiring a substitute to take up arms for him. This was accomplished by paying a fee to the federal government and calling on the services of a Pittsburgh draft agent, H.M. Butler, who located a recent Irish immigrant, John Lindow, who was willing to join the army in Carnegie's place for the sum of $850.

To Carnegie, the Civil War was not about preserving the Union or abolishing slavery, it was about business possibilities. He realized that the metals industries would hold an important place in the future of the United States and decided to devote his energies to becoming a wealthy and successful steel magnate. Carnegie started out by buying an iron-bridge plant and followed this up with the purchase of a plant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that made railroad car axles. He manipulated the buy-out of one partner and united the bridge and axle plants into the Union Iron Mills of Pittsburgh. By the mid-1870s, Carnegie was the sole owner of the company and built his own blast furnace to avoid paying locals for their services. In order to ensure sufficient amounts of fuel to run the furnaces, he invested heavily in the coal and coke monopoly of Henry Clay Frick.

A few years earlier Frick, who became instrumental in Carnegie's plans for substantial expansion, had established the Frick Coke Company. Frick had expanded the original 300 acres of coal land and 50 ovens to 450 acres and 150 ovens. Carnegie was impressed with Frick from the beginning and suggested that they become partners. In 1889, Carnegie, Frick, and Charles Schwab established the Carnegie Steel Company. While the partnership proved financially successful, Carnegie was never comfortable with Frick's lack of moral controls. Frick's manipulations set the stage for an 1892 strike at the Homestead plant of Carnegie Steel, and violence broke out, resulting in the deaths of seven workers. Anarchist Alexander Berkmann later tried to assassinate Frick. Carnegie attempted to distance himself from Frick who resigned from Carnegie Steel in 1899.

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