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Meet Amazing Americans Industrialists & Entrepreneurs Andrew Carnegie
 
Timeline
Poster for an 1900 play showing a poor father and his son
Poverty was a fact of life for many families in the 1800s, including Andrew Carnegie's.

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Andrew Carnegie and His Parents
All kids learn from their parents. And, as a child, Andrew Carnegie learned values from both of his parents. But their values were very different and often in conflict.

From his father, Andrew learned the value of helping those who are less fortunate. Carnegie's father, Will Carnegie, was part of a British working class movement in Scotland, which believed in making conditions better for the working man. Will Carnegie was a weaver but when he was unable to find work in America he tried to produce and sell his own cloth. He died at the age of 51 when Andrew was 20 years old and the only breadwinner for the family. Given these circumstances, what kind of values do you think Carnegie learned from his mother?

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