Andrew Carnegie’s belief in Social Darwinism also affected his treatment of his laborers. Perhaps the only negative quality that is placed upon him is that of oppressor of the working class. Carnegie inspired competition among his workers and fired the managers and work crews that fell behind. His workers believed that upward mobility wasn’t possible—they were stuck as laborers and would never rise higher (“Richest”). Despite his workers’ pessimism, Carnegie still believed in their ability to improve their situations. Carnegie once said, “To be born to honest poverty and compelled to labor and strive for a livelihood in youth is the best of all schools for developing latent qualities, strengthening Catlin 3 character, and making useful men” (McCloskey 233). He firmly believed in the laborers’ right to organize themselves in unions and canonized the commandment “Thou shalt not take thy neighbor’s job” (“Richest”). Perhaps Carnegie recognized that unions and other societies of organized laborers develop a cohesiveness that moves them up in society; the emergence of reform organizations crystallizes middle-class consciousness (Blumin 345). The idea that former craftsmen, who now were the unskilled laborers in Carnegie’s mills, still demanded codes of conduct, led to their involvement in unions to improve working conditions in the mills. According to historian Stuart Blumin, “To the extent that they accepted doctrines of individual upward mobility, . . . many immigrant workers absorbed the acquisitive and individualistic ethos of the native middle class. Multiple cultural systems offered workers different strategies for survival and self improvement” (301). Carnegie allowed for this upward mobility as long as it didn’t impede production. Carnegie was not a “typical” capitalist of the time. He was more absorbed in the moral problems of his times than his peers (McCloskey 250). Though Carnegie believed that workers should be allowed to organize themselves, he feared the threat of violence. This idea was brought to the forefront with the Homestead crisis in 1892. Carnegie’s associate, Henry Clay Frick,
Andrew Carnegie’s belief in Social Darwinism also affected his treatment of his laborers. Perhaps the only negative quality that is placed upon him is that of oppressor of the working class. Carnegie inspired competition among his workers and fired the managers and work crews that fell behind. His workers believed that upward mobility wasn’t possible—they were stuck as laborers and would never rise higher (“Richest”). Despite his workers’ pessimism, Carnegie still believed in their ability to improve their situations. Carnegie once said, “To be born to honest poverty and compelled to labor and strive for a livelihood in youth is the best of all schools for developing latent qualities, strengthening Catlin 3 character, and making useful men” (McCloskey 233). He firmly believed in the laborers’ right to organize themselves in unions and canonized the commandment “Thou shalt not take thy neighbor’s job” (“Richest”). Perhaps Carnegie recognized that unions and other societies of organized laborers develop a cohesiveness that moves them up in society; the emergence of reform organizations crystallizes middle-class consciousness (Blumin 345). The idea that former craftsmen, who now were the unskilled laborers in Carnegie’s mills, still demanded codes of conduct, led to their involvement in unions to improve working conditions in the mills. According to historian Stuart Blumin, “To the extent that they accepted doctrines of individual upward mobility, . . . many immigrant workers absorbed the acquisitive and individualistic ethos of the native middle class. Multiple cultural systems offered workers different strategies for survival and self improvement” (301). Carnegie allowed for this upward mobility as long as it didn’t impede production. Carnegie was not a “typical” capitalist of the time. He was more absorbed in the moral problems of his times than his peers (McCloskey 250). Though Carnegie believed that workers should be allowed to organize themselves, he feared the threat of violence. This idea was brought to the forefront with the Homestead crisis in 1892. Carnegie’s associate, Henry Clay Frick,