Category Beyond the Episode
The Men Who Built America and the Improbability of the Paper Vest and Christmas Gift Exchange
Episode two wants us to believe there was a feud that existed between Rockefeller and Carnegie. I’ve been trying to find whether or not that was true, but have not been able to find anything that confirms it. Being the two richest men in America, I’m sure they were not beyond comparison and perhaps there […]
The Men Who Built America – Episode 2 – Keystone Bridge Company
You may have noticed the sign outside of Andrew Carnegie’s office during episode 2 of The Men Who Built America. It read “Keystone Bridge Company”, but it was not mentioned by name during the episode. Was it real? Yes. It was founded by Carnegie in 1865 after he retired from the railroad industry with an […]
The Men Who Built America – Separating Robber Barons from Political Entrepreneurs
When the curtain closes on History Channel’s The Men Who Built America, it’s hard to imagine a debate not ensuing surrounding the celebration of these men; as it already has surfaced among critics and social media. Under certain respects, the debates will be warranted, but as I read reviews and Tweets regarding the show, before […]
The Men Who Built America- Currency on Screen
“I have been insane on the subject of moneymaking all my life.” — Vanderbilt, quoted in the New York Daily Tribune, March 23, 1878 Upon my second viewing of The Men that Built America, I noticed the paper-money on the poker table as Cornelius Vanderbilt, surrounded by men of obvious wealth, puffed a cigar, held a […]
Accuracy in Cornelius Vanderbilt and the Occult in The Men Who Built America
In episode 1, we find a distraught Vanderbilt mourning the loss of his son George Washington Vanderbilt. At the end of the Civil War, “While America mourns publicly,” the narrator speaks,”Vanderbilt mourned privately.” Next, he can be found seated in a grey room alongside a tarot card reader who is warning Commodore about an oncoming […]
The Men Who Built America (Episode 1): More info on the “Erie War”; Gould, Fisk, Vanderbilt
Did anyone else find the portion of the series about Cornelius Vanderbilt’s thwarted attempt to take of the Erie Line, a bit confusing? The premise is introduced as part of Vanderbilt’s attempt to sieze all of the major railroad companies by way of, what would now be considered, a “hostile takeover.” The imagery of Vanderbilt’s […]
The Blog That Built America 