Editing Andrew Carnegie (section)

====1875–1900: Steel empire====
[[File:Bessemer converter.jpg|thumb|right|Bessemer converter]]
[[File:US-PA(1891) p750 BESSEMER, THE EDGAR THOMSON STEEL WORKS AND BLAST-FURNACES.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|The Edgar Thomson Steel Works and Blast-Furnaces in Braddock, Pennsylvania (1891)]]
Carnegie made his fortune in the steel industry, controlling the most extensive integrated iron and steel operations ever owned by an individual in the United States. One of his two great innovations was in the cheap and efficient mass production of steel by adopting and adapting the [[Bessemer process]], which allowed the high carbon content of [[pig iron]] to be burnt away in a controlled and rapid way during [[steel production]]. Steel prices dropped as a result, and Bessemer steel was rapidly adopted for rails; however, it was not suitable for buildings and bridges.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rosenberg |first=Nathan |url=https://archive.org/details/insideblackboxte00rose/page/90 |title=Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-521-27367-1 |location=Cambridge, NY |page=[https://archive.org/details/insideblackboxte00rose/page/90 90] |language=en}} Bessemer steel suffered from nitrogen embrittlement with age</ref>

The second was in his [[vertical integration]] of all suppliers of raw materials. In 1883, Carnegie bought the rival [[Homestead Steel Works]], which included an extensive plant served by tributary coal and iron fields, a {{convert|425|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} railway, and a line of [[Lake freighter|lake steamships]].<ref name="EB1911"/> In the late 1880s, Carnegie Steel was the largest manufacturer of pig iron, steel rails, and [[coke (fuel)|coke]] in the world, with a capacity to produce approximately 2,000 tons of pig iron per day.

By 1889, the U.S. output of steel exceeded that of the UK, and Carnegie owned a large part of it. Carnegie's empire grew to include the [[Edgar Thomson Steel Works|J. Edgar Thomson Steel Works]] in [[Braddock, Pennsylvania|Braddock]] (named for [[John Edgar Thomson]], Carnegie's former boss and president of the Pennsylvania Railroad), the Pittsburgh Bessemer Steel Works, the [[Lucy Furnace]]s, the Union Iron Mills, the Union Mill (Wilson, Walker & County), the Keystone Bridge Works, the Hartman Steel Works, the Frick Coke Company, and the [[Scotia, Pennsylvania|Scotia]] ore mines. Carnegie combined his assets and those of his associates in 1892 with the launching of the [[Carnegie Steel Company]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andrew-Carnegie |title=Andrew Carnegie {{!}} Biography & Facts |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=August 23, 2017 |language=en |archive-date=August 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823171925/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andrew-Carnegie |url-status=live }}</ref>

Carnegie's success was also due to his relationship with the railroad industries, which not only relied on steel for track, but were also making money from steel transport. The steel and railroad barons worked closely to negotiate prices instead of allowing free-market competition.<ref>[[#Nasaw|Nasaw]], pp. 3264–3278.</ref>

Besides Carnegie's market manipulation, United States trade tariffs were also working in favor of the steel industry. Carnegie spent energy and resources lobbying Congress for a continuation of favorable tariffs from which he earned millions of dollars a year.<ref>[[#Nasaw|Nasaw]], pp. 7114–7119.</ref> Carnegie tried to keep this information concealed, but legal documents released in 1900, during proceedings with the ex-chairman of Carnegie Steel, [[Henry Clay Frick]], revealed how favorable the tariffs had been.<ref>[[#Nasaw|Nasaw]], pp. 10653–10657.</ref>