The Gospel Of Wealth

“The Gospel of Wealth”

• Genre: Nonfiction; essay
• Originally Published: 1889
• Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
• Structure/Length: Approx. 34 pages; approx. 1 hour 16 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: Andrew Carnegie, who gave away 90% of his wealth during his lifetime, argues that hard work and perseverance is the path to wealth. He urged the wealthy to distribute their fortunes among the communities where the money originated rather than squander it on lavish lifestyles or on entitled heirs, thus using philanthropy to eradicate wealth inequality.  
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Wealth disparity             

Andrew Carnegie, Author

• Bio: 1835-1919; Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist; one of the richest Americans in history due to his involvement in the steel industry; born in Scotland and emigrated to the United States at age 12; known for creating the cheap and efficient mass production of steel by adopting the Bessemer process and for vertical integration, which involves buying suppliers of raw materials; launched Carnegie Steel Company in 1892 and sold it to J. P. Morgan in 1901 in a deal valuing $225 million ($7.94 billion in 2022); anti-imperialist and opposed to annexing the Philippines; spent the last two decades of his live giving away 90% of his wealth to causes, including education, pensions, music, science, world peace, and funding over 3,000 libraries; died of pneumonia in 1919
• Other Works: Round the World (1884); The Empire of Business (1902); Problems of Today: Wealth-Labor-Socialism (1907)