An Accurate Account of the “Men Who Built America” Part 22

Posted on April 28, 2013May 5, 2013 in Daily Blog, TV Shows with 1 Comment.

This is the twenty-second 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 #22: Morgan and Vanderbilt vs Carnegie and Rockefeller in 1885

American history is railroad history, at least as far as the late nineteenth century is concerned. The ability to transport goods over land in a cost-effective way was so essential to the development of the nation that virtually everything that happened in the nation’s economy in those years was railroad connected in some way.
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An Accurate Account of the “Men Who Built America” Part 21

Posted on April 21, 2013October 14, 2017 in Daily Blog, TV Shows with 3 Comments.

This is the twenty-first 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 # 21: Tom Scott’s Business Goes Up in Flames

Thomas Alexander Scott is an important figure in American business history, known both for his role as executive of the Pennsylvania Railroad (or “Pennsy,” as it was commonly known) and for his early mentor-ship of Andrew Carnegie. Scott was the railroad’s vice president for fourteen years, and took over as president upon the death of J. Edgar Thompson in 1874.
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An Accurate Account of the “Men Who Built America” Part 10

Posted on February 3, 2013February 26, 2013 in Daily Blog, TV Shows with No Comments.

This is the tenth 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 #10: Carnegie Builds a Railroad and a Portfolio

In Altoona, Carnegie’s position as Thomas Scott’s go-to guy continued to open up opportunities both inside and outside the railroad. In 1858 an inventor named Theodore Woodruff persuaded J. Edgar Thompson and Thomas Scott to order two of the sleeper cars he had developed (some accounts say it was four cars). It would be an important milestone in Andrew Carnegie’s career.