...The Men Who Built America Part 1 Two hundred years ago the United States of America was not what it is today. After the original thirteen colonies gained freedom from the U.K. the country continued to grow and prosper; however, it wasn't until after the civil war, when the industrial revolution began, till America began its rise to becoming one of the top economies in the world. This was due to the abundance of businesses that we're started by America's elite. However, some of the people who contributed most to America's rise did not come from wealth. Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the wealthiest Americans of the 19th century, was not born with an abundance of money. He worked hard to build the empire he created. As a kid he worked with his father on a ferry that transported goods around New York. After working as a steamboat captain he invested in steamboats and cultivated one of the country's largest steamship operators. He was a fear and ruthless and gained a reputation for it. Vanderbilt also knew potential when he saw it. In the 1860s, he shifted his focus towards railroads and built another empire. His fierceness made him one of the best entrepreneurs in history and when he died he was worth more than $100 million. Vanderbilt, however, wasn't the only entrepreneur that knew opportunity when they saw it. John D. Rockefeller knew when and how to take risks. Rockefeller knew that oil was the future of America, but he also knew oil was extremely costly to mine. Instead...
Words: 657 - Pages: 3
...“The Men Who Built America” “The Men Who Built America” was based off of three men, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, and Carnegie, each played a very important role in making America what it is today. Rockefeller made a monopoly off of standard oil. Vanderbilt made a monopoly of the railroad system in America while Carnegie made a monopoly from steel. The men had many accomplishments throughout their lives. John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 and was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He founded Standard Oil which dominated the oil industry and became the first great U.S. business trust. Standard Oil began as an Ohio partnership formed by John D. Rockefeller, his brother William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, Jabez Bostwick, chemistSamuel Andrews, and a silent partner, Stephen V. Harkness. Adjusting for inflation, he is often regarded as the richest person in history. Rockefeller spent the last 40 years of his life in retirement. His fortune was mainly used to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy. He was able to do this through the creation of foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education, and scientific research. When he died on May 23, 1937 he left his son John D. Rockefeller Jr. was entrusted with the supervisions of the foundations. Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794 and was also an American industrialist and philanthropist. Vanderbilt made his fortune in the shipping and railroads industry. He was also the...
Words: 638 - Pages: 3
...The “Men Who Built America” rebuilt our country after the Civil War. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Thomas Scott, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and Henry Ford all played vital roles in building America. The men who built America were beneficial to our country, providing transportation, light, and, architectural advancements. Cornelius Vanderbilt, nicknamed the Commodore as he was publicly named this from the reputation he gained for being competitive and ruthless too many. Vanderbilt owned a majority of the railroads spanning across America in the late 1800’s. With the railroads they had been creating they were able to ship goods at much faster rates. With railroads still a resource to all,...
Words: 716 - Pages: 3
...Why I think we should watch The Men Who Built America in class. We are learning mainly about American history in class, right? Well this show is a little more advanced in history than what we are learning now. If we have spare time, like before Christmas break and you want to do something fun, but yet educational at the same time, this the best answer for you. Now this show has four episodes in it, each one is an hour and a half long. If you are teaching American history this show is well-suited for this class, not only is it history but it explains why things are like they are today. For example, John D. Rockefeller is featured in this show. Rockefeller reciprocated the instery of oil. So before Rockefeller, oil was used in lamps, oil lamps...
Words: 1056 - Pages: 5
...Ironworkers: Building America I never really knew who built skyscrapers and big tall buildings or even little metal ones until I moved to Oklahoma for work. I worked on a job in Pryor and saw these men walking on beams and erecting this large building with steel. I was amazed and mesmerized. It was crazy to believe that these men and even women do this job. For example; they connect beams and columns, bolt-up, weld and other things. All on two inch to two foot beams. These men and women build small metal shop with red iron (softer iron) to skyscrapers with steel. There are different tasks involved to complete these projects for instance, connecting. Connecting is were connectors (two ironworkers) tell a crane operator the piece needed next...
Words: 486 - Pages: 2
...The Men who built America: a True Tale of Innovation Change is an inevitable fact of life and it also applies in the world of business in countless ways. Staying ahead of the crowd of competitors is part of innovation and the greatest business pioneers of our time were the best at adapting to the environment that surrounded them and their influence. “The Men who Built America” shows many interesting parts of the business world both good and bad. Hostile takeovers and buyouts were byproducts of the tension between competing industries and business tycoons, especially in the midst of the Industrial Revolution of early America. Many traits are represented in great business leaders but innovating may be the single best thing to be skilled at. Cornelius Vanderbilt was originally one of the first of many American pioneers and he thrived in setting new trends and finding ways to step ahead of competition. Innovation was his biggest ally in overcoming the rivals in his industry. He originally started with a shipping business that he brought up from nothing and soon used big ships to transport numerous kinds of materials to both the east and west coasts of the country. When the railroad industry was first taking off, Vanderbilt saw a path of profit and potential. The shipping business he owned was one of the greatest companies of its time but Vanderbilt had the eye to see potential into a new type of business that was faster and more efficient. It also created larger profit...
Words: 2351 - Pages: 10
...Africans in America: The Terrible Transformation Response/Reflection The video titled Africans in America: The Terrible Transformation thoroughly reassesses the history of slavery. The documentary tells of how slavery was brought to America, and of the conditions under which these slaves were forced to live. The trade that began in Africa was not initially focused on trading humans, but rather on gold. Gradually, the British took control and started trafficking Africans to their colonies in America. The conditions slaves lived under changed drastically from the original conditions when they first arrived to America compared to years after the slave trade had been functioning. This documentary re-examines the appalling social injustice that existed during this time period and how race was associated to such injustice. The African men and women had no idea what their life in America would be like. When the British colonies were first established, white indentured servants were typically relied on to cultivate crops. This labor force consisting of white people soon changed, and the English definition of who could be enslaved changed from non-Christian to non-white individuals. The Portuguese sailed to West Africa seeking gold. Over time, the British took control of the trade in Africa, and the trade shifted from gold to humans. Africans were needed on the plantations in America. The Europeans built factories on the West African coast to hold captives until they were shipped...
Words: 1621 - Pages: 7
...Essay 1 In the 1720’s, France, England, and Spain were in competition for land in North America . Spain controlled Florida and France had control of Canada and the Louisiana territory. England decided to build the first British garrison in the Georgia colony . The fort was established in 1721 as the southernmost outpost of British North America . The fort was constructed at the mouth of the Altamaha River to protect the British claim to the Georgia colony and also the surrounding area was rich in natural resources and was accessible to different waterways . The fort was a triangular shaped earthen fortification consisting of moats, palisade, and a twenty-six square-foot blockhouse . It also contained a twenty-six foot cypress-log blockhouse that had three levels . The first level held powder, ammunition, and had the supply storage room . On the second level there was a gun and cannon port room . The windows gave a great view of the Altamaha Delta and Saint Simon Island in the distance . A lookout post was on the third floor ....
Words: 663 - Pages: 3
...paragraphs I will be telling you how the Panama Canal was built, the struggles the men who built it had to go through to build this massive canal, I will also talk about how it made an impact on the world past and present day. First I’ll talk about how the Panama Canal was built. First, the French started the canal, which ended in total failure, where there was many cases of Yellow Fever,failed equipment, and loss of too many lives. Then a few years after the French backed out, the United States started to prepare, they felt that after that America will be one of the most most dominate countries on the globe if they succeed. The Panama Canal was built by a majority of tools like huge machines that could pick up dirt by the tons, and then there were trains, massive vehicles that carried massive amounts of rubble and dirt. All of this couldn't of been done by machines there just weren't enough of them. So some white men and a vast majority of West Indians worked around the clock and were dirty 24/7. Lastly, in order to speed things up explosives like TNT were lit and erupted through mountains....
Words: 542 - Pages: 3
...building planes, etc., everything they could to help the men overseas. They was mothers, daughter, sisters, and boyfriends to most of them. Texas Newspapers was very strong in showing the patriotism of women during this time. Newspapers in Texas brought stories from Washington state to Florida showing how independence of woman was slowly coming forth. Of course it would women was doing jobs that men did before the war. There was even a woman’s baseball league created to replace men’s baseball while they were off at war. Men was leaving to fight and women was filling in to do what they can for their country and get paid. Unemployment went down as a result of the war. Women thought out the war had been getting talked about for their work efforts but they was still not at the status of a man. Universities was raising money for war bonds and helping red cross with their mission. Maybe the most important thing is that woman had to now take care of the family while their husband or boyfriend was gone. They had to work, take care of the kids, and make sure their homes are safe along with their kids. During World War II Women were seen as strong workers who were gaining more independence from men while serving their country in one way or the other. December 7, 1941, when Japan Kamikaze’s attacked Pearl Harbor, this is what push United States in to the war know as World War II. Texas had seven hundred and fifty thousand Men go to war, some volunteering and other being drafted...
Words: 981 - Pages: 4
...was not entirely true at least until the early 19th century in America, specifically from 1824-1848. This time period is better known as the Jacksonian Era because it marked a turning point for the so called “common man” economically, politically, socially, and religiously as a new age of thinking that accompanied the second great awakening completely revolutionized this epoch. Many economic...
Words: 1333 - Pages: 6
...Americans turned to Central America where countries were attracting and recruiting foreign investors by giving them land in an attempt to build capital and develop. The United States justified the move to Central America through the idea of Pan Americanism. Pan Americanism was a movement that sought to create, encourage and organize relationships between the Americas through diplomatic, political, economic and social means. The Americans who headed to Central America on the terms of Pan Americanism became known as the banana...
Words: 981 - Pages: 4
...leaving Spain, on the morning of October 12, he stepped ashore on the beach of a low sandy island. He named the island San Salvador – Holy Savior. Columbus believed that he had landed in the Indies, a group of islands close to the mainland of India. For this reason he called the friendly, brown-skinned people who greeted him ‘los Indios’ – Indians. In fact, Columbus was not near India. It was not the edge of Asia that he had reached, but islands off the shores of a new continent. Europeans would soon name the continent America, but for many years they went on calling its inhabitants Indians. Only recently have these first Americans been described more accurately as ‘native Americans’ or Amerindians. There were many different groups of Amerindians. Those north of Mexico, in what is now the USA and Canada, were scattered across the grasslands and forests in separate groups called ‘tribes’. These tribes followed very different ways of life. Some were hunters, some were farmers. Some were peaceful, others warlike. They spoke over three hundred separate languages, some of which were as different from one another as English is from Chinese. Europeans called America ‘the New World’. But it was not new to the Amerindians. Their ancestors had already been living there for maybe 50,000 years when Columbus stepped on to the beach in San...
Words: 5271 - Pages: 22
... During the American Revolutionary war with Britain, we were fighting for our freedom from England. When individuals came over from Europe to settle here in America, they were still under the thumb of the British Government. We needed to win the war to gain the independence from England, to form our own government. While the war was raging, members of all 13 colonies gathered and eventually signed the Articles of Confederation. These articles were clearly written concerning our laws, equality, standard issues, and inspiration for the people. The Articles did not come without their problems. There was a lack of representation, they had limited funds. The war effort was very expensive. The dollar of the dollar had decreased and the taxes on imports was so high that goods were unavailable. The economy was decreasing was because credit was necessary. There was problem in the fact that our navy was decreasing because the pirates were taking over our ships and stealing our goods kidnapping our soldiers a holding them for ransom. It also offered limited power. The Constitution was built upon the articles of Confederation. The articles did not have the right to tax. They were built on a single house in the legislature, thus having a single vote. They had no judicial powers either. They could not make laws or have a means of representation. They did not have a permanent Executive power. States came...
Words: 1105 - Pages: 5
...Vietnam war is a key event that built the United States as we know it today. This was my second time reading this story and this time it impacted me on a higher level. The soldiers endured many hardships for us, citizens of the United States of America to be free. The gruesome imagery used in this story is just a small part of the horrors that they faced. Tim O’Brien illustrated the imagery of war from his personal first-hand view. He described dismembered bodies hanging from trees, sewage swallowing soldiers to their death and he described the way his first victim looked after he was killed by a grenade. "...the skin at his left cheek was peeled back in three ragged strips, his right cheek was smooth and hairless, there was a butterfly on his chin, his neck was open to the spinal cord and the blood there was thick and shiny and it was this wound that had killed him."...
Words: 367 - Pages: 2
