How Did Andrew Carnegie Revolutionize The Steel Industry?

Throughout the 1800’s in the United States, the steel business was revolutionized by an American business icon, Andrew Carnegie. After growing up in a poor family, he used his self-taught knowledge to build wealth using investments to build a foundation of wealth. After coming from a humble background, Carnegie established himself as one of the wealthiest businessmen of his time period, and one of the most generous philanthropists of history.
Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835, in Scotland. He came from a very modest background, his family was not wealthy and they worked very hard for what they had. When he was just 13, his father’s business crashed and that set his family off for the new opportunities of the United States. His family
After visiting Britain, he saw the high demand for steel and brought the idea to the United States. In 1972, the J. Edgar Thomson Steel Works was created by Carnegie, but the name later changed to Carnegie Steel Company. He transformed the steel industry in the United States by introducing the Bessemer process (DiLallo). The Bessemer process was created in 1856 by Henry Bessemer of Britain. The process consisted of iron being heated while oxygen was blown through molten metal. After oxygen went through the metal, it would react with carbon, which releases carbon dioxide and then made pure iron (Spoerl).Although the process did have early problems being perfected, Bessemer was able to correct the issues. The Bessemer process was fast and inexpensive, and made it possible for Carnegie to profit off of his steel. Carnegie introduced to the Bessemer process in the United States and steel began to be made efficiently and cheap (Terrell). This process was revolutionary in steel
In 1892, one of the most violent labor strikes in United States history took place in one of his factories (McNamara). Carnegie and his partner Henry Frick wanted to lower the wages at a steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania. The workers at these plants dealt with 12 hour shifts, a seven day work week with seldom days off. A majority of the workers at this plant were represented by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers Union; which had a contract with Carnegie until July 1 of 1892. While Carnegie was away in Scotland, Frick cut the workers wages and the union rejected the pay cuts. Frick then fired and locked out 3,800 workers from the plant that had about 4,000 people. A group of 300 Pinkerton agents were sent to fill the plant. This caused the workers to be furious and the employees to open fire on the Pinkerton guards. The situation became so violent that the governor became involved, as well as 8,500 national guard soldiers to help control the workers (Adamczyk). Although Carnegie was in Scotland, there is still some question to if he knew about the wage cuts (McNamara). The Homestead Strike is another crucial part of the United States, and Carnegie history that should not be