Transformation to Steel: How the Bessemer Process Sparked the Industrial Revolution
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was born November 25, 1835, in Scotland. When Andrew Carnegie was 11 he emigrated to western Pennsylvania. Starting from when he was 13, he rose from a job as a bobbin boy to the top of the railroad industry. Wanting a larger income, he left the railroad business to go to the steel industry. Funded by Tom Scott and Edgar Thompson, he used the Bessemer process to get control of steel production. He also used the "cost-accounting" techniques of the railroad industry. Working with Henry Bessemer, Carnegie took every input and steel plant under his control. He bought the steel, coal and coke mills, as well as the iron mines. Since he controlled every aspect of the steel industry, he could have the coal and coke made cheaply, the iron mined cheaply, and sell the steel for a low per-unit cost. He became a millionaire, and the richest person of his time. He died August 11, 1919.
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