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Andrew Carnegie [A] Henry Clay Frick [B]
Cornelius Vanderbilt [C] John D Rockefeller [D]
Meyer & Daniel Guggenhein [E]
1. One of the US educational institutions was named after him. [ ]
2. New York citizens remember them for the great contribution to the cultural heritage of their city. [ ], [ ]
3. Made their money on developing the US transportation system [ ], [ ]
4. Was very religious person and founder of dynasty of oil magnates. [ ]
5. Became millionaires by extracting non-ferrous metal. [ ]
6. Feeling guilty for his wealth he provided his previous employees with decent pensions. [ ]
THE GREAT AMERICAN MILLIONAIRES
The American millionaire is the personification of the American Dream. Few millionaires started with inherited wealth. In the “Land of the Free”, they worked their way up to the top from the factory floor. Most of them devoted their youth to making money but spent their later year giving money away. Henry Clay Frick, the iron and steel magnate exploited immigrant workers and made them work excessively long hours for much too little money. But today he is remembered for the wonderful collection of pictures and sculptures he gave to the City of New York, along with the elegant mansion on Fifth Avenue where they are housed.
Andrew Carnegie, a Scot by birth, said, “The man who dies rich, dies disgraced”. He earned his money from steel, coal mines, railroads and steamship lines and was worth $400 million. But he felt guilty about his wealth and at the age of 65 he began to give it away. He is most famous for the 3,000 public libraries he founded in America, Britain and other English-speaking countries. He presented pensions to his former servants and tenants and left his wife comfortable off. He didn’t believe in inherited fortunes because he didn’t understand those ‘little rich boys’ who live in indescribable luxury wasting money of their rich fathers.
However, the sons of some millionaires were as dedicated to their work as their fathers. J.P. Morgan, J.P. Getty and Howard Hughes were sons of American magnates who vastly increased the wealth they had inherited.
Cornelius Vanderbilt, who made his fortune on steamship and railroad lines, was worth $100 million towards the end of his life. When he felt the time to give most of his money away, he endowed a university in Nashville, Tennessee, which was called after him – Vanderbilt University.
The Rockefeller family, who made their money from banking and oil, donated $530 million to medical research and education. They founded two national parks, built the vast Rockefeller center in the middle of Manhattan, with its movie house (the biggest in the world), its open skating rink, and its outdoor cafe. The first Rockefeller (John D.), who started working as a clerk, led a life of complete simplicity, and his chief reading was Bible.
Meyer & Daniel Guggenhein, father and son, spanned the 19th century with their activities. They made a fortune from copper. But the family is best known for its gift to New York City of an amazing collection of modern art.
Many find it difficult to understand why these American millionaires labored so hard to acquire wealth and then gave so much of it away. The answer may be guilt or even pride. Perhaps it is only materialism and generosity, the urge to acquire wealth and the urge to share it, exist side by side in the character of many Americans.
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