The birth of the 20th century brought forth many industrial and social innovations. With these innovations came many racial and economical inequalities. Race has always been an issue throughout the history of our nation, but it was enlarged with the huge wave of European immigrants. Wealth was not an issue because it was usually passed through families, but with the rise of the Industrial Age, it was now possible for the average man to accumulate wealth on his own. In Ragtime, E. L. Doctorow accurately depicted life in the early 20th century by emphasizing first that entrepreneurs believed it they were part of an elite class that were to provide the tools for mankind to progress and secondly the racial inequalities that existed in society.
             The accumulation of wealth was always thought to be impossible. Wealthy people usually inherited their fortune through family members. Prior to the Industrial Age, it was nearly impossible to build your own fortune especially if you were a regular worker. There were many famous entrepreneurs in the 20th century like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Stanford White, and J.P. Morgan. Andrew Carnegie, although not mentioned in Ragtime, represented the belief that it was his destiny to help mankind through the fortune he had earned because of his elite position in life.
             Andrew Carnegie was one of the most famous entrepreneurs of the early 20th century. He was a perfect example of how the rise of the Industrial Age propelled the average man to become millionaire. Carnegie believed that since he rose from the working class to wealthy elite, it was possible for the average man to do the same. He was a firm believer that it was his God-given right to accumulate wealth while providing a service for the working class. Carnegie argued that, "not evil, but good, has come to the race from the accumulation of wealth by those who have had the ability and energy to produce it". Carne...