Was Carnegie a robber baron or a captain of industry?

Andrew Carnegie, the most contradictory of the robber barons: he supported workers' rights, but destroyed unions; and when he acquired the largest fortune in US history, he tried to give it away. Andrew is born in ... But when Rockefeller moves his oil off the railroads, he bursts the bubble in the rail road industry. read more

The Richest Man in America: Andrew Carnegie, available on the American Experience, a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library, offers Suggestions for the Classroom you might want to try. read more

I honestly do not believe that Andrew Carnegie's life ambitions was to be a robber baron. After all, he came from a poor family. Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and emigrated to the United States with his very poor parents in 1848. read more