An Accurate Account of the “Men Who Built America” Part 16

This is the sixteenth in my series of posts about the five businessmen the History Channel profiled in a terribly inaccurate and un-historical TV miniseries titled The Men Who Built America. I’m writing these posts in response to several comments and e-mails from TV viewers who have expressed interest in a more accurate version of the story. (Click here to see all Al’s columns on the program and its subjects.)

Post #16: Carnegie Builds Cars and Bridges

The late 1860’s were a busy time for Andrew Carnegie. As the war was ending Carnegie resigned his position with the Pennsylvania Railroad to focus his energies on a handful of companies, mostly transportation and communication related, in which he held substantial blocks of stock.

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An Accurate Account of the “Men Who Built America” Part 13

This is the thirteenth in my series of posts about the five businessmen the History Channel profiled in a terribly inaccurate and un-historical TV miniseries titled The Men Who Built America. I’m writing these posts in response to several comments and e-mails from TV viewers who have expressed interest in a more accurate version of the story. (Click here to see all Al’s columns on the program and its subjects.)

Post #13: John D. Rockefeller Gets His First Job

In 1855 John D. Rockefeller went looking for his first full time job. By training, talent, and inclination he was a bookkeeper, but few businessmen in 1855 Cleveland were willing to entrust their books to a sixteen year old. Times were tough, and older and more experienced applicants were available.
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An Accurate Account of the “Men Who Built America” Part 11

This is the eleventh in my series of posts about the five businessmen the History Channel profiled in a terribly inaccurate and un-historical TV miniseries titled The Men Who Built America. I’m writing these posts in response to several comments and e-mails from TV viewers who have expressed interest in a more accurate version of the story. (Click here to see all Al’s columns on the program and its subjects.)

Post #11: Carnegie During the War Years

Carnegie had only held his job as Western Superintendent for a couple years when the Civil War broke out. Although he would describe himself as a pacifist in later years, he was passionate in his support for the Union war effort.
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An Accurate Account of the “Men Who Built America” Part 8

This is the eighth in my series of posts about the five businessmen the History Channel profiled in a terribly inaccurate and un-historical TV miniseries titled The Men Who Built America. I’m writing these posts in response to several comments and e-mails from TV viewers who have expressed interest in a more accurate version of the story. (Click here to see all Al’s columns on the program and its subjects.)

Post #8: Carnegie’s Childhood.

Andrew Carnegie was born in a small town in Scotland in November of 1835. His parents didn’t put him in school until he was eight years old, and when they did the cheapest school in town was all they could afford. There was only one teacher, and the class size varied between 150 and 180 students during the four or five years he was able to attend. When his family left Scotland his school days ended; from then on he would have to educate himself in what little spare time was available to a child who worked sixty hours a week in a sweatshop.
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The Men Who Built America Episode IV – Still Phony

This is the fourth in a series of reviews of the History Channel’s four-part series The Men Who Built America.

Click here to read Al Fuller’s review of the first episode.

Click here to read Al’s review of the second episode.

Click Here to read Al’s review of the third episode.

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The History Channel aired the fourth and final episode of its The Men Who Built America series Sunday night, and like the first three installments, this one is terribly inaccurate. It’s a crying shame that the series contained so little real history; there are no end of fascinating and true stories about the great nineteenth century entrepreneurs, and an accurate version of this series would be good TV.
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