Read the following passage about a leading figure in industry and answer
the questions underneath.
Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) was among the wealthiest and most
famous industrialists of his day. Through Carnegie Corporation of New York,
the innovative philanthropic foundation he established in 1911, his fortune has
since supported everything from the discovery of insulin and the dismantling of
nuclear weapons, to the creation of Pell Grants and Sesame Street. The work of
the Corporation and its grantees has helped shape public discourse and policy
for more than one hundred years. Millions of people have benefited from
Carnegie’s foresighted generosity — a legacy of real and permanent good.
Andrew Carnegie’s birthplace, Dunfermline, was Scotland's historic
medieval capital. Later famous for producing fine linen, the town fell on hard
times when industrialism made home-based weaving obsolete, leaving workers
such as Carnegie’s father, Will, hard pressed to support their families. Will and
his father-in-law Thomas Morrison, a shoemaker and political reformer, joined
the popular Chartist movement, which believed conditions for workers would
improve if the masses were to take over the government from the landed gentry.
When the movement failed in 1848, Will Carnegie and his wife, Margaret, sold
their belongings to book passage to America for themselves and their sons, 13-
year-old Andrew and 5-year-old Tom.
Andrew Carnegie’s family decided to settle in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, a
suburb of Pittsburgh where they had friends and relatives. Their ship landed in
New York City, which he found bewildering: ―New York was the first great hive
of human industry among the inhabitants of which I had mingled, and the
bustle and excitement of it overwhelmed me,‖ Carnegie wrote in his
autobiography. Next the family traveled west by canal and steamboat, arriving
in Allegheny three weeks later (a 370-mile, six-hour trip by car today). They
moved into two rooms above a relative’s weaving shop, which his father took
over, but the business ultimately failed, putting the family once again in need
of money.
At the age of 13, Carnegie worked from dawn until dark as a bobbin boy
in a cotton mill, carrying bobbins to the workers at the looms and earning
$1.20 per week. A year later, he was hired as a messenger for a local telegraph
company, where he taught himself how to use the equipment and was
promoted to telegraph operator. With this skill he landed a job with the
Pennsylvania Railroad, where he was promoted to superintendent at age 24.
Not just ambitious, young Carnegie was a voracious reader, and he took
advantage of the generosity of an Allegheny citizen, Colonel James Anderson,
who opened his library to local working boys — a rare opportunity in those
days. Through the years books provided most of Andrew Carnegie’s education,
remaining invaluable as he rapidly progressed through his career.
Answer the following questions
1. Who was Andrew Carnegie?
2. How did the Carnegie Corporation of New York influence the public
discourse and policy?
3. What did the Chartist Movement believe and strive for?
4. What did Carnegie surprise when he first arrive in New York?
5. How long did Carnegie work as a bobbin boy in textile?
