Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Second Industrial Revolution
The second industrial revolution changed the face of America.
One of the biggest figures of that age (and that's kind of ironic, because he was only about five feet tall) was Andrew Carnegie.
The book talks about some of the amazing things that Carnegie did, and he did basically create the public library system in the US (before that, libraries were by subscription only)... but there was also the Homestead Strike, which understandably got him some bad press.
I find it interesting that Carnegie and Frick both seem to have, in some sense, "bought" history, so that their names today are associated with positive foundations and museums, rather than the gory details of how they treated workers.
This is actually a solid thesis about how Carnegie (and other "great" figures in history) should not be put up on pedastal, but should be viewed for all of his positive traits as well as his faults.
How do you think history books that your kids will read will treat someone such as Bill Gates?
I found this article about how Bill Gates works (it's paperless).
One of the biggest figures of that age (and that's kind of ironic, because he was only about five feet tall) was Andrew Carnegie.
The book talks about some of the amazing things that Carnegie did, and he did basically create the public library system in the US (before that, libraries were by subscription only)... but there was also the Homestead Strike, which understandably got him some bad press.
I find it interesting that Carnegie and Frick both seem to have, in some sense, "bought" history, so that their names today are associated with positive foundations and museums, rather than the gory details of how they treated workers.
This is actually a solid thesis about how Carnegie (and other "great" figures in history) should not be put up on pedastal, but should be viewed for all of his positive traits as well as his faults.
How do you think history books that your kids will read will treat someone such as Bill Gates?
I found this article about how Bill Gates works (it's paperless).
# posted by Mr. G : 3/06/2007 09:37:00 PM
