In each case Carnegie is referring to the accumulation and unequal distribution of wealth, which have “revolutionized” human life for the good (“highly beneficial”). In the above paragraph, he goes further by saying this unequal distribution of wealth and the benefits it bestows are a “law of civilization.”

After retiring in 1901 at the age of 66 as the world’s richest man, Andrew Carnegie wanted to become a philanthropist, a person who gives money to good causes. He believed in the “Gospel of Wealth,” which meant that wealthy people were morally obligated to give their money back to others in society.

Instead, Carnegie advises that wealth should be put towards programs and public goods that will encourage and enable the poor to improve their situation. Like many people, he believed that the rich achieved their success because of their hard work and special abilities, while the poor were less talented and lazy.

While such growth was “essential for the progress of the race,” it unequivocally widened the wealth gap between the rich and the poor. Through the Gospel of Wealth, Carnegie entreated the wealthy “Robber Barons” of his time to address this imbalance through philanthropy.

The original audience for this document was probably the well-educated and wealthier section of society.

By age 30, Carnegie had amassed business interests in iron works, steamers on the Great Lakes, railroads, and oil wells. He was subsequently involved in steel production, and built the Carnegie Steel Corporation into the largest steel manufacturing company in the world.

American

Andrew Carnegie’s life was a true “rags to riches” story. Born to a poor Scottish family that immigrated to the United States, Carnegie became a powerful businessman and a leading force in the American steel industry. Today, he is remembered as an industrialist, millionaire, and philanthropist.