Andrew Carnigie

Andrew Carnegie was born at Dunfermline near Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1848 the family came to America, settling at Allegheny, Pa. (now part of Pittsburgh). At twelve years old Carnegie got his first job as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill. He then moved on to work as a telegraph messenger for a railroad company. In his spare time he taught himself how to read Morse code so he could be come an actual operator. When …

…new United States Steel Corporation. He then retired from business so that he could devote his time and money to public service. Carnegie believed that it was the solemn duty of a rich man to redistribute his wealth in the public interest. He also felt, however, that indiscriminate giving was bad. "No person," he said, "and no community can be permanently helped except by their own cooperation." He was a true pioneer of Social Darwinism.