The Men Who Built America (2012) s01e02 Episode Script
Episode 2
1 - NARRATOR: Previously on the men who built America Bruised and battered following the long civil war.
The country has emerged stronger than ever.
American railroads have become the largest companies in the world.
And through sheer force - VANDERBILT: Buy everything you can.
- NARRATOR: Cornelius Vanderbilt has built the biggest.
- VANDERBILT: We're gonna watch them bleed.
- NARRATOR: But a new industry emerges to challenge the railroads.
Led by John D.
Rockefeller.
The age of oil begins.
Soon Vanderbilt and the other railroads see oil as an opportunity.
- ROCKEFELLER: You want a cartel between oil and railroads.
- NARRATOR: But as railroad men like Tom Scott and his protégé Andrew Carnegie take on big oil Rockefeller declares war on the railroads.
- ROCKEFELLER: Shut them down.
- NARRATOR: And brings the industry to its knees.
- (Blues Saraceno playing "Save My Soul") When I got to Memphis I put my old baby down He said I can't take you to Heaven I can't save your soul I can't promise forever Whoo With my heart in your hands I can't feel, fell my soul - PREACHER: If everyone gathered here would now join me in the reciting of The Lord's Prayer.
"Our Father who art in Heaven, hollowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the power and the glory, forever and ever.
Amen.
" - NARRATOR: Andrew Carnegie's mentor is buried on a rainy day just outside of Philadelphia.
He dies a broken man.
Defeated and humiliated.
At the hands of John D.
Rockefeller.
The loss is an enormous blow to Carnegie Without Tom Scott, Carnegie would be nothing.
- Sir.
- Thanks.
- NARRATOR: At the age of 12, Andrew Carnegie begins working for a local railroad in Pittsburgh.
There, he meets the company's President, Tom Scott.
- SCOTT: Andy.
- NARRATOR: Scott takes a liking to young Carnegie Hiring him as his personal assistant.
- Now, take this and this to the division superintendent.
- Yes, sir.
This is for you, Sir.
- Ah! Thank you.
- DAVID NASAW: He never expected to work at 12 years old, he wanted to go to school, he wanted to grow up.
But the family had absolutely no way of surviving without sending him to work.
- H.
W.
BRANDS: Andy is the man of the household.
He realizes fairly early on that he's smart.
He discovers in himself an ambition.
And when Andy Carnegie showed the intelligence, showed the nerve to take on some of the responsibilities, Scott realized that this was somebody to cultivate, somebody to nurture.
- NARRATOR: Tom Scott quickly advances Carnegie through the ranks.
- STEVE WYNN: Like most young people who get breaks, luck has a lot to do with it, and timing.
And the second factor besides timing is that, as a young man, usually all of us would admit that there was a mentor, a benefactor.
And when an older person who you respect and admire has confidence in you, it's a great booster to your own self-confidence.
- NARRATOR: By age 24, Carnegie is promoted to manager of the company.
Working closely with Scott to oversee the railroad's expansion west.
- SCOTT: So I bought 100,000 shares at $10 a share, before news of the contract came out.
When the issue became public, the shares doubled in value.
The next day, you know what I did? I sold them.
I didn't have to build a thing.
The key is westward expansion.
- CARNEGIE: Yes, sir.
- Here.
This is where I want the bridge.
Right here.
Think you can you do it? - Yes, sir.
- I know a good designer.
James Eads.
He's crazy, but he's a genius.
- Bridge builder, is he? - No.
But he's quick, and he's cheap.
He can do anything.
Come.
- NARRATOR: The bridge Scott has outlined will be the largest in America.
The problem is, Carnegie has no idea how to build it.
A bridge spanning the Mississippi River would connect east to west like never before.
- DAVID NASAW: The key to success for any railroad is getting across the Mississippi River.
Once you get across the Mississippi river you can move west.
The question is: How do you get across the Mississippi river? - NARRATOR: The bridge will have to be over a mile long.
One in four bridges built at the time fail.
And nobody has built a rail bridge this big.
But Carnegie knows there's no reward without risk.
He invests everything he has into the bridge.
- H.
W.
BRANDS: Andy Carnegie stepped up.
He decided he could do it.
One striking thing about Carnegie--and this is true of the great entrepreneurs-- they're willing to take risks.
They're willing to roll the dice and bet, in later days, the whole corporation, or in this case, bet his career.
- It's no good.
- Why? - We can't block steamboat traffic.
We've been through this.
- Show me the cantilevered one again.
It's not going to withstand the Mississippi currents.
- So make it stronger.
- It's impossible.
The combined forces from the passenger traffic, rail freight and the river current will exceed the tensile strength of iron.
The bridge will collapse.
- Here you go.
- Thank you.
- Nothing's impossible.
- STEVE CASE: You have to be patient and have perseverance and have a sense of where you want to go, and having the passion to still believe in your idea even when everyone else is saying, well, why are you wasting your time on this.
Obviously it's not happening.
But you know it's going to happen and you never give up on that idea.
- (sighs) - How am I supposed to make any money? - They're worth more than a dollar.
- Five cents, final offer.
- (clanking) - It's not going to withstand the Mississippi current.
- So make it stronger.
- Maybe if it was made out of steel - Nothing's impossible.
- NARRATOR: Steel is the strongest material ever made.
Created by mixing iron with carbon at over 2,000 degrees.
The problem is, it's extremely expensive, and difficult to mass produce.
Because steel is so rare, it's only used to make small items.
Forks, knives, and jewelry.
No one has ever tried to use steel to build a structure this big.
Until now.
- He's looking into the future.
He looks across the Mississippi and he sees a bridge.
And he's able to see that future.
And then willing to have enough confidence in his vision to put everything he's got into it, and he's willing to convince others that he knows what that future is going to be.
- NARRATOR: In order to complete the bridge, Carnegie needs to find a way to make a massive amount of steel.
- DAVID NASAW: He spent a lot of time traveling.
He would go to steel mills, he would meet with chemists, to figure out, How do you make this steel? - NARRATOR: English inventor, Henry Bessemer, has created a device that cuts the time to manufacture a single steel rail from two weeks to 1 5 minutes.
Carnegie understands the value of the new technology And begins to adapt it.
- RON PERELMAN: Every business has some uniqueness, either a unique talent, unique product, unique capacity.
And the trick is to find it, and then find it and capitalize on it.
- NARRATOR: With the steel in place, Carnegie is able to begin construction.
At just 33, Andrew Carnegie is poised to realized the impossible Building the first major bridge to span the Mississippi River.
Uniting America.
But Carnegie's Decision to use steel has proven costly.
He's already two years behind schedule.
And expenses are mounting.
- DEBT COLLECTOR #1 : "Dear Mr.
Carnegie: our records show that we have not received your payment of $35,000, which was due on August" - DEBT COLLECTOR #2: "Dear Mr.
Carnegie: I am writing to notify you that despite numerous efforts to obtain final payment for the above invoice, I have been unsuccessful.
" - DEBT COLLECTOR #3: "This letter will serve as formal notice to you that you are in default of your obligation to pay the sum of $59,000, for steel delivered to you.
" - DEBT COLLECTOR #2: "and must now accelerate collection efforts in accordance with" - DEBT COLLECTOR #4: "and you will be able to settle this outstanding amount immediately.
" - DEBT COLLECTOR #3: "and we will have no alternative but to commence legal proceedings against you.
" - DONNY DEUTSCH: I guarantee you if these guys were alive today they wouldn't be telling you about their successes.
They would be telling you about their early failures, or the places they almost failed.
That's the great motivator, and you have to be able to embrace that.
If you can't embrace both failure, or the possibility of failure, or the tremendous fear of failure, you can't be wildly successful.
It's just, it's an axiomatic truth.
- NARRATOR: With no money left, Carnegie is forced to bring construction to a halt.
His dream has become a nightmare.
But he's not going down without a fight.
- NARRATOR: The birth of Modern America is well underway.
Trains now touch all four corners of the continent.
Homes across the nation are lit at night.
And the country's most ambitious construction project is in progress on the banks of the Mississippi River led by Andrew Carnegie.
Carnegie has insisted on building his bridge out of steel an unproven material.
With huge costs.
Construction is drastically behind schedule.
And dangerously over budget.
Carnegie is under mounting pressure.
- CARLY FIORINA: The difference between people who succeed and people who fail, I think, Everyone experiences fear.
The difference is, what do you do with your fear? Do you work to overcome it? Or do you let it defeat you? And I think that is actually what distinguishes very successful people from others.
NARRATOR: Desperate, Carnegie reaches out to investors, looking for an infusion of cash.
- CARNEGIE: You'll be glad to learn that the building of the St.
Louis bridge is progressing-smoothly.
I am convinced that steel is the future; however, obtaining such a large quantity of steel is proving to be difficult, causing us some delays.
It is also proving to be extremely expensive.
My forecast shows that we will require another million dollars before the year is out.
But I have no doubt that in time the people will come to see the bridge as the eighth wonder of the world.
Yours sincerely, Andrew Carnegie.
NARRATOR: Carnegie's last-minute pitch works.
He secures the financing he needs.
And finally, after four years, the bridge is complete.
The results are epic.
But Carnegie now faces a new problem.
- DAVID NASAWL: In St.
Louis, one of the real problems was convincing people the bridge wasn't going to fall.
I mean nobody had ever seen bridges like this, anywhere.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie sees all the possible uses for steel.
But before he can realize the materials potential he needs to convince the public of its strength.
And he has a plan to do just that.
A popular superstition at the time, holds that an elephant won't cross an unstable structure.
- DAVID NASAW: The day the bridge opens, Carnegie, who is also a master publicist, sets up a parade across the bridge that's led by an elephant.
- NARRATOR: It's an incredible gamble.
But Carnegie hopes if the elephant crosses, the people will follow.
- (cheers) - DAVID NASAW: As the people of St.
Louis look at this bridge, they see that it can sustain whatever weight's going to be put on it.
- NARRATOR: When the stunt succeeds, Carnegie gets more requests for his steel than he can possibly handle.
And his biggest customer is an industry he knows well.
The railroads are looking to replace their bridges and rails with steel.
But Carnegie can't produce enough of the new material to fill all the orders.
He needs to increase his capacity.
And to do that, he needs to raise additional funds.
So he turns to his old mentor, Tom Scott.
With his help, Carnegie raises over $21 million in today's money.
And with it, he builds his first steel plant.
- DAVID NASAW: He sees the future and he is willing to invest where few other American entrepreneurs are willing to invest: in these gigantic new plants.
- NARRATOR: Sprawled over 100 acres just outside of Pittsburgh Carnegie's steel mill is the largest in the nation.
Capable of rolling out 225 tons of steel a day.
- JIM CRAMER: You have to believe if you're Carnegie that you're going to have multiple years of growth where steel is important.
The faith and optimism that someone like Carnegie had is just off the charts vs.
what we see now.
- NARRATOR: With the new plant, Carnegie can supply as much steel as the country needs.
And make himself a fortune.
But Carnegie's timing couldn't be worse.
After years of overbuilding, the railroads are suddenly struggling to stay profitable.
- H.
W.
BRANDS: There were too many railroads at the time.
There wasn't enough traffic to sustain them.
- NARRATOR: With the railroads in dire need of cargo, John Rockefeller sees an opportunity.
And negotiates better rates for shipping his oil.
But the struggling railroads quickly realize their business won't survive.
And go back on their word.
Causing Rockefeller to pull his oil from the trains.
Carnegie's mentor, Tom Scott, tries to adjust.
But he can't survive without Rockefeller's oil.
His business is decimated.
And Tom Scott never recovers.
- PREACHER: From ashes to ashes, and dust to dust.
- NARRATOR: Andrew Carnegie has lost his mentor.
The man who meant more to him than anyone else in the world.
- Andy.
Now, take this and this to the division superintendant.
You think you can do it? - Yes, sir.
- NARRATOR: As far as Carnegie is concerned, one man drove Tom Scott to his grave.
And now Andrew Carnegie wants revenge.
America's growth following the civil war, is nothing short of epic.
Train tracks link east to west as never before.
Oil lights homes from coast to coast.
And steel is remaking the landscape But just when the growth looks unstoppable the railroad industry--the backbone of the American economy--collapses.
And the nation is thrown into the worst depression it's ever seen.
Andrew Carnegie is on the brink of losing everything.
Without the railroads, he's lost his market for steel.
And he blames his bitter rival, John D.
Rockefeller.
Desperate for a new market, Carnegie notices a trend he can capitalize on.
Unemployed Americans, by the thousands are flooding cities like New York and Chicago, in search of work.
And to accommodate the population surge, buildings are being constructed as fast as possible.
- DAVID NASAW: Carnegie brilliantly begins to see that the future is not in rails but in structural steel, in girders, in beams, to build skyscrapers.
And again, he's ahead of the curve.
- NARRATOR: The world's first skyscraper is built in Chicago.
Its thin brick walls hang on a thick frame manufactured from Carnegie's steel.
In the next few years, over 100,000 new building are erected in Chicago alone.
- Until steel began to become a major product, much ofAmerica could not have happened.
America grew up vertically on steel.
- NARRATOR: Modern America is being built using Carnegie's Steel.
The skyscraper boom makes Andrew Carnegie one of the wealthiest men in America.
But for Carnegie, it's not enough.
John Rockefeller's personal fortune is seven times larger than Carnegie's.
A feat he's achieved through a calculated ruthlessness.
Carnegie believes that to avenge his mentor's death, he must surpass John Rockefeller as the most powerful man in America.
And to do that, he must find help from someone even more cutthroat than his rival.
And he knows the perfect man for the job.
Henry Frick is a self-made millionaire by thirty.
He's one of the Midwest's largest coal suppliers.
A ruthless businessman, Frick has reputation for getting what he wants by any means necessary.
- FRICK: Carter! Carter! This belongs to me now.
Carter! I know you're in there! - NARRATOR: Hiring Henry Frick will give Carnegie the merciless edge he lacks.
- Follow me, sir.
- Henry.
- Andrew.
- Good to see you, thank you for coming.
- It's my pleasure.
- Please, sit.
- Thank you.
Whiskey, neat.
- (sniffles) Now, Henry, I believe you've married since I saw you last.
- FRICK: Marriage changes a man, Andrew.
- Oh.
How's that? - (laughs) Well, let's say I've calmed down a bit.
- Well, it's a noble institution, as they say.
- I don't know about noble, but it's an institution.
- An institution nonetheless, right? (laughs) - (laughs) - MARK CUBAN: The partnership between Carnegie and Frick was analogous to the way a good business partnership works today.
You want somebody as completely opposite and different from you as you possibly can get.
- NARRATOR: Frick's first assignment is to get Carnegie Steel into shape.
His boss believes that Frick will use his toughness to cut costs and eliminate waste leading to bigger profits.
Many see giving Frick so much power as a huge risk.
But Carnegie decides it's a risk worth taking.
- Welcome aboard, Henry.
- Thank you, Andrew.
- NARRATOR: In the end, hiring Frick may be the worst decision of Carnegie's career.
- NARRATOR: America's unprecedented growth is being led by a group of extraordinary men.
Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt creates the biggest railroad company in the country.
John D.
Rockefeller uses standard oil's refining capabilities to light homes from coast to coast.
And now Andrew Carnegie is using the mass produced steel to erect buildings that touch the sky.
Making the country stronger than it's ever been before.
- CARNEGIE: Our profit margin is unassailable.
Our productivity is absolutely as good as any steel mill in Europe or America.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie's steel empire is expanding at a staggering rate.
In just two years, profits have doubled.
- CARNEGIE: Right this way, Sir, and I'll show you the rest.
- NARRATOR: By ramping up production, Carnegie and Frick are able to use the proceeds to buy competitors throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania.
- Carnegie demonstrated that if you're the first at whatever you do, you have a huge advantage over the people who come along later because you've got the jump on them and very often that jump allows you to carve a niche and to maximize your profits within that niche.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie's personal fortune is skyrocketing.
His net worth is now upwards of $3.
5 billion in today's money.
His decision to hire Henry Frick looks like a stroke of genius.
Through intimidation and fear Frick re-negotiates favorable contracts with suppliers.
And eliminated unnecessary expenses while upping production.
- Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four - NARRATOR: Approaching the final decade of the century, Carnegie Steel is more profitable than ever.
Carnegie rewards Frick by making him chairman of his company.
The second most powerful man in steel.
But for Frick, it's not enough.
He wants his boss's seat at the table.
Frick's father had been a failure.
And now he wants to make sure that everyone knows that he's not his father.
Frick, purchases land in the hills east of Pittsburgh.
On it, he builds a members only club for some of the wealthiest men in the country.
The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club sits on a huge artificial lake, where club members can boat and fish.
Even Carnegie joins the club.
- It doesn't seem like a problem to me, we know who our friends are, and we know how to please them.
- Yes, and you can always buy a man.
However, If it's possible not to, I would think that's a better-- - Excuse me just for one moment.
- NARRATOR: To create their playground, the club takes control of the South Fork dam, holding 20 million tons of water.
The largest dam of its kind in the world.
Just 14 miles downriver lies Johnstown a working class community of steel workers and their families, who live under the constant threat that the next rainstorm will wash away the dam.
City officials beg Frick to strengthen the dam.
But he ignores their pleas completely.
- I heard there was an accident.
- Well, you're right.
There has been an accident.
I can't get my carriage across this road.
- Your carriage is too wide for the road, sir.
- Now that is where you and I are going to differ.
My carriage is just fine.
It's the road that's the problem.
- To widen the road we'd have to lower the dam, sir.
- Well, there now.
That wasn't too hard to sort out, was it? - NARRATOR: By lowering the dam, Frick weakens it.
- CARNEGIE: Henry shows me the ledgers and shows me the numbers.
And it was not the number I was expecting; it was a little bit higher than I was expecting.
And the only question remaining is how much money we'll make next year.
I'm a bit dry over here, Henry.
- NARRATOR: Frick is content with his club, his image, and his wealth.
But everything is about to change.
America is in an age of unprecedented prosperity.
The country is connected cost to coast by rail.
Kerosene lamps brighten the night.
And steel is being used to build structures no one could have imagined even a decade earlier.
Overseeing much of the growth are Pittsburgh Steel magnates Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick.
Ideal Partners Together they've driven Carnegie Steel to massive profits.
To celebrate, they've erected the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club - Cheers.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
- NARRATOR: A lakefront Members Only playground.
But construction has weakened the dam surrounding the lake at South Fork Posing an imminent threat to the lives of tens of thousands of people in the valley below.
- NARRATOR: Memorial Day breaks in Johnstown.
As ominous clouds roll in.
- (thunder rumbles) - MOTHER: Hurry on, now.
- NARRATOR: At South Fork, lake levels are rising - NARRATOR: at an inch every 10 minutes.
- More bags.
- Go, go.
- Over here.
- We need more men up here.
- Give me that bag.
We need more men.
- Hurry up.
- (thunder rumbles) - Over here.
- Give me that bag.
- John! Get a telegram to Johnstown! Tell them to evacuate! - We need more men.
- (clicking) - NARRATOR: The message reads "South Fork Dam liable to break.
Notify the people to prepare for the worst.
" - (clicking) - NARRATOR: The Johnstown Telegraph office has seen the same warning many times before.
They ignore it.
- (thunder rumbles) - We need more at the top.
- We're running out of time.
- Leave it! Leave it! Let's get out of here! Now! - (rumbling) - NARRATOR: America is in an age of unprecedented prosperity.
The country is connected coast to coast by rail Kerosene lamps brighten the night.
And steel is being used to build structures no one could have imagined even a decade earlier.
Overseeing much of the growth are Pittsburgh Steel magnates Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick.
Ideal Partners Together They've driven Carnegie Steel to massive profits.
To celebrate, they've erected the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club - Cheers.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
- NARRATOR: A lakefront Members Only playground.
But construction has weakened the dam surrounding the lake at South Fork Posing an imminent threat to the lives of tens of thousands of people in the valley below.
- (Blues Saraceno playing "Save My Soul") When I got to Memphis I put my old baby down He said I can't take you to Heaven I can't save your soul I can't promise forever Whoo With my heart in your hands I can't feel, fell my soul - NARRATOR: Memorial Day breaks in Johnstown.
As ominous clouds roll in.
- (thunder rumbles) - MOTHER: Hurry on, now.
- NARRATOR: At South Fork, lake levels are rising - (thunder rumbles) - NARRATOR: at an inch every 10 minutes.
- More bags.
- Go, go.
- Over here.
- We need more men up here.
- Give me that bag.
We need more men.
- Hurry up.
- (thunder rumbles) - Over here.
- Give me that bag.
- John! Get a telegram to Johnstown! Tell them to evacuate! - We need more men.
- (clicking) - NARRATOR: The message reads "South Fork Dam liable to break.
Notify the people to prepare for the worst.
" - (clicking) - NARRATOR: The Johnstown Telegraph office has seen the same warning many times before.
They ignore it.
- (thunder rumbles) - We need more at the top.
- We're running out of time.
- Leave it! Leave it! Let's get out of here! Now! - (rumbling) - (dog whining) - (rumbling continues) - Get out of here! The dam's burst! - Move away from the window.
- (rumbling) - (glass shatters) - NARRATOR: When the water stops, more than 2,000 people lie dead.
One in three are so mutilated they can't even be identified.
1 ,600 Homes are destroyed and over four square miles of the town are completely leveled.
The Johnstown Flood is the worst man-made disaster in the United States prior to 9/11 .
Bodies will be found for years to come.
Some as far away as Cincinnati, 350 miles from Johnstown.
Volunteers come from across the country to assist in the recovery.
The Flood is the first major peacetime relief effort of the recently formed American Red Cross.
As outrage over the flood grows, the public looks for someone to blame.
Most of that blame falls on the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.
But the members deny responsibility.
Lawsuits are filed But they're ultimately unsuccessful.
In the eyes of an angry public, the South Fork members--including Henry Frick--have gotten away with murder.
The incident forever changes Andrew Carnegie Who feels a sense of responsibility for the disaster, unlike many of his fellow club members.
He soon drops out of South Fork and begins a campaign to rebuild his damaged image.
- When your brand becomes so big that you become the name, you become the face behind the brand, it's difficult.
There's also a great deal of responsibility and risk, and you have to be very, very careful.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie donates millions to help rebuild Johnstown.
- Carnegie gave money to thousands of libraries.
Millions and millions of dollars.
Carnegie wanted to be remembered for the good he had done.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie begins building public monuments across the country.
And soon, a grand music venue in Manhattan becomes his passion.
Carnegie Hall is New York's new home for the performing arts.
And for high society to rub elbows.
On opening night, Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky is the featured performer.
Andrew Carnegie is treated like royalty.
Honored for the masterpiece he's built.
But even in this setting, one man is a bigger presence.
John D.
Rockefeller is worth three times as much as Carnegie.
But the Cathedral Carnegie's built bearing his name, takes their rivalry to another level.
- Oh.
Thank you, Alisha.
- NARRATOR: The men will spend the next 10 years battling each other.
Sparring with Christmas gifts.
Rockefeller sends Carnegie a cheap, paper vest.
Ajab at his simple beginnings as a poor immigrant.
In return, Carnegie sends Rockefeller, a devout Baptist who doesn't drink, a bottle of fine whiskey.
- You know I've had my own little rivalries, I've had a rivalry with Donald trump where I think it was back, 2004, he was giving me a hard time about something and I said "you know what I can write a bigger check than you and not even know it's missing," because I knew if I tweaked him, he would just respond, and he did, and I still like to tweak him just because it's fun - DONNY DEUTSCH: I always say you have to have someone to hate to aim for.
Having an enemy, having an arch enemy, having a competitor is what ups the game for everybody.
- NARRATOR: While Rockefeller's oil empire steadily grows, steel becomes the product of choice for construction.
And Carnegie's business takes off.
- Mr.
Connor - Yes, sir.
- How's the output? - She's running at full capacity, sir.
- Good.
Carry on.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie's steel helps trigger the upward expansion of America's cities.
But if he wants to challenge Rockefeller for the title of America's Most Powerful Businessman Carnegie must become even more profitable.
But he'll pay a price for his ambition.
That will threaten to destroy everything he's worked so hard to build.
The building of Modern America is moving at lightning speed.
Rail lines link east to west in a way never before thought possible.
Oil is burning into the night.
And steel is pushing cities to unimaginable heights.
Driving this growth is a rivalry between two men.
Andrew Carnegie and John D.
Rockefeller.
One the undisputed King of Oil, the other, the Unchallenged Man of Steel.
And each is determined not to be outdone.
- STEVE WYNN: I benefit from high-class competition.
I've been dogged by the competition, bested by the competition a couple times.
But I've had my licks, too, and we've managed to hold our own.
- NARRATOR: To overtake Rockefeller as the richest man in the country, Carnegie can't just be a profitable steel maker.
He's got to be the most profitable.
And for that, he needs an edge.
He sets his sights on a struggling steel mill outside Pittsburgh.
With plans to make it the largest in his steel making empire.
Carnegie invests millions retooling the plant to turn out more structural steel than any other mill of its size.
The Homestead Steel Works is a true modern marvel.
But it can't operate without man power.
- One of the huge costs in a steel mill is labor.
Carnegie knew that to stay profitable.
He had to keep costs low.
And the only way to keep costs low was to reduce wages and increase working hours.
To keep profits growing, Carnegie needs to continue cutting costs.
Including wages.
But he's also determined to repair his image.
Something he can't do in the midst of a labor dispute.
So he turns to his chairman to do the dirty work.
Henry Frick has never been concerned with what people think of his methods.
He's about one thing Winning.
- DAVID NASAW: Carnegie didn't enjoy being the bad guy, being the villain.
Frick didn't seem to mind.
- DONNY DEUTSCH: I think the great leaders find partners who basically can exploit their weaknesses, but not kind of dance on their strengths.
Instead of hiring weaker versions of themselves, they hire people that are tremendous experts at what they're not.
- CARNEGIE: Henry shows me the ledgers, and that was not the number I was expecting.
Now, the only question remains is how much we'll make next year.
- NARRATOR: With Frick firmly installed as chairman of Carnegie Steel The boss heads to Scotland to give him room to operate.
- JIM CRAMER: The industrialists of that period of time are people who are out for themselves to make large fortunes as quickly as possible, even if it means pressing the envelope of what they have to do.
- NARRATOR: Frick begins squeezing all that he can get out of the workers at Homestead.
- DAVID NASAW: Frick decided that the only way to keep the plant running efficiently was with a 12 hour day, six days a week.
What that meant was intolerable working conditions.
No one could work 12 hours a day.
If you're working in an office, you'd fall asleep at your desk.
If you fall asleep in a steel mill, you end up dead.
- MARK CUBAN: You know back when Carnegie was building his empire, obviously there were no labor laws, it was a free for all.
And looking back it seems horrific in a lot of different ways that workers were taken advantage of.
But that was the game that was played back then.
- NARRATOR: The conditions are dangerous.
And a small group of men bands together to raise their concerns.
- DAVID NASAW: Many of the workers at the steel mill felt that change in working conditions was a necessity.
They were exhausted and they wanted wages that were livable.
- NARRATOR: Unions are relatively new in America.
And Frick isn't about to let them take root on his watch.
But before acting, he seeks his boss' counsel.
- "Dear Andrew, it may become necessary to fight it out this summer.
Once got into it will be fought to the finish.
" - NARRATOR: Andrew Carnegie is well aware of Frick's aggressiveness.
It's why he's put three thousand miles between them.
But Carnegie would rather leave some things unsaid.
- "Mr.
Frick, no doubt you will get Homestead right.
You can get anything right, with your mild persistence.
" - There's a fine line, how do we protect the worker, yet, at the same time, continue to grease the wheels for capitalism? Sometimes those two are at cross-purposes.
- NARRATOR: Frick takes Carnegie's words as a clear indication that it's time to go to war.
He ramps up production, pushing his men harder than ever.
In case of a strike, he'll have a stockpile of finished steel.
The men are spending half their lives in the dreadful and dangerous conditions.
And they're about to reach their breaking point.
- (screaming) - (men yelling) - May the Lord in his love and mercy help you.
May the Lord free you from sin and save you and raise you up.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- NARRATOR: Accidents on the plant floor keep multiplying.
Until one proves fatal.
The death has the potential to unite the overwhelmed workforce.
Frick knows what's coming.
- FRICK: "Dear Andrew, I am not prepared to believe that we will win without a severe struggle.
I regret to say it does not seem that there is any other course open for us.
We would better make the fight and be through with it.
" - FRICK: "Henry, One thing we are all sure of no contest will be entered into that will fail.
We all approve of anything you do.
We are with you to the end.
" - NARRATOR: Knowing his boss has his back, Frick throws the first punch.
He tells workers that Carnegie Steel won't negotiate.
And conditions won't be improving.
- WORKER: He can't do that.
- Frick didn't understand the steelworkers believed that the mill belonged to them.
They were the ones who made the steel.
It was their plant and they weren't gonna to let this nasty little Frick take it from them.
- O'DONNELL: Under the management of Mr.
Frick, the Carnegie Company has wiped out organization in the Edgar Thompson works.
Has wiped out organization in the coke region and are about to wipe out organization in Homestead.
- CROWD: No! - O'DONNELL: The time has come to send Mr.
Frick a message.
- CROWD: That's right.
- O'DONNELL: We do not accept the new pay scale.
- CROWD: No.
- O'DONNELL: We do not accept the poor working conditions.
- CROWD: No.
- O'DONNELL: We do not accept the long hours.
- CROWD: No.
- O'DONNELL: And why can we do this? Because we are a union.
- CROWD: Yeah! - O'DONNELL: And nobody, nobody will break us! - CROWD: Yeah! - O'DONNELL: All those in favor of striking, raise your hands.
- CROWD: Yeah! - O'DONNELL: Mr.
Frick? - FRICK: I'm giving you one more chance to call off this strike.
I'll make sure any man who walks out, never returns.
- O'DONNELL: We'll see.
NARRATOR: 2,000 steel workers barricade the front of the plant.
To prevent Frick from bringing in replacements.
The fight has turned personal.
But Frick isn't about to back down.
He calls in reinforcements.
For years, the Pinkerton Detectives have been a private police force.
Best known for tracking down train robbers.
They even stopped a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln.
And were hired as the President's personal bodyguards.
But now they've become an army for hire.
With more men and guns than the U.
S.
Military.
If you have the money, they'll fight for you.
And Frick has the money.
- HEINDE: We'll enter by the river, take them by force if necessary.
Remember your training, follow orders.
If they start shooting we'll hit them back hard.
There is no place for cowardice.
- DAVID NASAW: The Pinkertons were mercenaries.
They were from out of town.
They had no ties to Pittsburgh, no ties to these workers.
They were paid a wage to wield their clubs.
The moment Frick made the decision to bring in Pinkertons, the die was cast and the only way this strike was going to end was in tragedy.
- HEINDE: FIRE! - NARRATOR: 2,000 men barricade themselves inside the Homestead plant.
Causing steel production to grind to a hault.
Carnegie Steel's chairman, Henry Frick, is in no mood to negotiate.
Under pressure to quell the revolt, Frick brings in the Pintertons.
A mercenary army capable of outgunning the U.
S.
Military.
And their presence threatens to be the spark that light the powder keg.
- DAVID NASAW: Frick thought to himself when the workers see the Pinkertons, when they see that I'm not going to back down they will back down.
He thought a show of strength, a show of resolve, was all that was needed.
And that would be the end.
He badly miscalculated.
- O'DONNELL: Hold your ground.
Stay calm.
Stay calm.
- HEINDE: We're here to take possession of this property.
- CROWD: No! - O'DONNELL: I suggest you turn around and go home.
You're not getting in.
- HEINDE: If you do not stand aside, we will mow every one of you down.
CROWD: Muttering.
- O'DONNELL: The blood of innocent men will be on your hands.
- HEINDE: Tear down this barricade.
- CROWD: No! - HEINDE: Fire! Fire! Shoot them.
Shoot! - (guns firing) - (moaning) - (guns firing) - (moaning) - O'DONNELL: Hold the line.
Keep your ground.
- HEINDE: Fire! Fire! - You all right? You all right? - Take it.
- (groaning) - (screaming) - HEINDE: Fire! Fire! - (gagging) - NARRATOR: When the fighting stops, nine Carnegie Steel workers lie dead.
While countless others sustain severe injuries.
But they manage to hold their ground.
Until Pennsylvania's Governor sends in the state militia to finally restore order.
Homestead is back in the hands of the management.
But Andrew Carnegie's problems are far from over.
The public is outraged over the violence, blaming chairman Henry Frick directly.
Many are demanding justice for the dead.
- Mr.
Frick.
- (gun fires) - NARRATOR: The vast and rapid growth ofAmerica is in full swing.
Railroads now connect all 44 states.
Oil is the most precious resource in the country.
And steel is building our cities.
But growth at this pace doesn't come without a cost.
Andrew Carnegie is making more steel than anyone else in the world.
To meet this level of production, his workers are on their feet 12 hours a day, six days a week.
The conditions spur them to barricade the plant, leading Carnegie's Chairman, Henry Frick, to call in mercenaries.
- HEINDE: Fire! - (guns firing) - (moaning) - NARRATOR: A bloody battle leaves nine workers dead.
Frick regains control of Homestead.
But while the carnage is over the public outcry is just beginning.
- DAVID NASAW: It was a massacre.
Not just in terms of the number of injured and dead.
But a massacre that any civilians should be killed, standing and defending their plant.
- NARRATOR: Over night, Homestead becomes a searing symbol of life and death in Industrial America.
- MAURY KLEIN: Carnegie probably was appalled at what happened at Homestead.
He prided himself on portraying his company as an enlightened, progressive company, which in many ways it was.
What Homestead did was cast a stain on that and on his reputation that he had a very hard time living down.
-NARRATOR: Carnegie extends his stay in Scotland Hoping the distance will allow the controversy to blow over.
But American reporters track him down.
- Excuse me, just a word.
- No gentleman.
- Mr.
Carnegie our readers - Another time gentlemen.
- Yes, just a word.
- I am not in the habit of giving interviews in the middle of public parks.
- Mr.
Carnegie.
- Get out of my damned way.
- NARRATOR: While Carnegie's hounded by press abroad At home, the public's outrage is escalating.
A new group is emerging, calling themselves "The Anarchists.
" Known for their violent tactics, they are beginning to strike out.
Whenever and wherever they see injustice.
Now they've turned their attention to the massacre at Homestead.
Demanding payback.
Their target is the chairman of Carnegie Steel.
Henry Frick is determined to get steel production back up to speed.
But his enemies have other plans.
- (footsteps) - Mr.
Frick.
- (gun fires) - (yells) - (Frick groans) - (choking) - (grunting) - Get off of me.
Let me go.
The country has emerged stronger than ever.
American railroads have become the largest companies in the world.
And through sheer force - VANDERBILT: Buy everything you can.
- NARRATOR: Cornelius Vanderbilt has built the biggest.
- VANDERBILT: We're gonna watch them bleed.
- NARRATOR: But a new industry emerges to challenge the railroads.
Led by John D.
Rockefeller.
The age of oil begins.
Soon Vanderbilt and the other railroads see oil as an opportunity.
- ROCKEFELLER: You want a cartel between oil and railroads.
- NARRATOR: But as railroad men like Tom Scott and his protégé Andrew Carnegie take on big oil Rockefeller declares war on the railroads.
- ROCKEFELLER: Shut them down.
- NARRATOR: And brings the industry to its knees.
- (Blues Saraceno playing "Save My Soul") When I got to Memphis I put my old baby down He said I can't take you to Heaven I can't save your soul I can't promise forever Whoo With my heart in your hands I can't feel, fell my soul - PREACHER: If everyone gathered here would now join me in the reciting of The Lord's Prayer.
"Our Father who art in Heaven, hollowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the power and the glory, forever and ever.
Amen.
" - NARRATOR: Andrew Carnegie's mentor is buried on a rainy day just outside of Philadelphia.
He dies a broken man.
Defeated and humiliated.
At the hands of John D.
Rockefeller.
The loss is an enormous blow to Carnegie Without Tom Scott, Carnegie would be nothing.
- Sir.
- Thanks.
- NARRATOR: At the age of 12, Andrew Carnegie begins working for a local railroad in Pittsburgh.
There, he meets the company's President, Tom Scott.
- SCOTT: Andy.
- NARRATOR: Scott takes a liking to young Carnegie Hiring him as his personal assistant.
- Now, take this and this to the division superintendent.
- Yes, sir.
This is for you, Sir.
- Ah! Thank you.
- DAVID NASAW: He never expected to work at 12 years old, he wanted to go to school, he wanted to grow up.
But the family had absolutely no way of surviving without sending him to work.
- H.
W.
BRANDS: Andy is the man of the household.
He realizes fairly early on that he's smart.
He discovers in himself an ambition.
And when Andy Carnegie showed the intelligence, showed the nerve to take on some of the responsibilities, Scott realized that this was somebody to cultivate, somebody to nurture.
- NARRATOR: Tom Scott quickly advances Carnegie through the ranks.
- STEVE WYNN: Like most young people who get breaks, luck has a lot to do with it, and timing.
And the second factor besides timing is that, as a young man, usually all of us would admit that there was a mentor, a benefactor.
And when an older person who you respect and admire has confidence in you, it's a great booster to your own self-confidence.
- NARRATOR: By age 24, Carnegie is promoted to manager of the company.
Working closely with Scott to oversee the railroad's expansion west.
- SCOTT: So I bought 100,000 shares at $10 a share, before news of the contract came out.
When the issue became public, the shares doubled in value.
The next day, you know what I did? I sold them.
I didn't have to build a thing.
The key is westward expansion.
- CARNEGIE: Yes, sir.
- Here.
This is where I want the bridge.
Right here.
Think you can you do it? - Yes, sir.
- I know a good designer.
James Eads.
He's crazy, but he's a genius.
- Bridge builder, is he? - No.
But he's quick, and he's cheap.
He can do anything.
Come.
- NARRATOR: The bridge Scott has outlined will be the largest in America.
The problem is, Carnegie has no idea how to build it.
A bridge spanning the Mississippi River would connect east to west like never before.
- DAVID NASAW: The key to success for any railroad is getting across the Mississippi River.
Once you get across the Mississippi river you can move west.
The question is: How do you get across the Mississippi river? - NARRATOR: The bridge will have to be over a mile long.
One in four bridges built at the time fail.
And nobody has built a rail bridge this big.
But Carnegie knows there's no reward without risk.
He invests everything he has into the bridge.
- H.
W.
BRANDS: Andy Carnegie stepped up.
He decided he could do it.
One striking thing about Carnegie--and this is true of the great entrepreneurs-- they're willing to take risks.
They're willing to roll the dice and bet, in later days, the whole corporation, or in this case, bet his career.
- It's no good.
- Why? - We can't block steamboat traffic.
We've been through this.
- Show me the cantilevered one again.
It's not going to withstand the Mississippi currents.
- So make it stronger.
- It's impossible.
The combined forces from the passenger traffic, rail freight and the river current will exceed the tensile strength of iron.
The bridge will collapse.
- Here you go.
- Thank you.
- Nothing's impossible.
- STEVE CASE: You have to be patient and have perseverance and have a sense of where you want to go, and having the passion to still believe in your idea even when everyone else is saying, well, why are you wasting your time on this.
Obviously it's not happening.
But you know it's going to happen and you never give up on that idea.
- (sighs) - How am I supposed to make any money? - They're worth more than a dollar.
- Five cents, final offer.
- (clanking) - It's not going to withstand the Mississippi current.
- So make it stronger.
- Maybe if it was made out of steel - Nothing's impossible.
- NARRATOR: Steel is the strongest material ever made.
Created by mixing iron with carbon at over 2,000 degrees.
The problem is, it's extremely expensive, and difficult to mass produce.
Because steel is so rare, it's only used to make small items.
Forks, knives, and jewelry.
No one has ever tried to use steel to build a structure this big.
Until now.
- He's looking into the future.
He looks across the Mississippi and he sees a bridge.
And he's able to see that future.
And then willing to have enough confidence in his vision to put everything he's got into it, and he's willing to convince others that he knows what that future is going to be.
- NARRATOR: In order to complete the bridge, Carnegie needs to find a way to make a massive amount of steel.
- DAVID NASAW: He spent a lot of time traveling.
He would go to steel mills, he would meet with chemists, to figure out, How do you make this steel? - NARRATOR: English inventor, Henry Bessemer, has created a device that cuts the time to manufacture a single steel rail from two weeks to 1 5 minutes.
Carnegie understands the value of the new technology And begins to adapt it.
- RON PERELMAN: Every business has some uniqueness, either a unique talent, unique product, unique capacity.
And the trick is to find it, and then find it and capitalize on it.
- NARRATOR: With the steel in place, Carnegie is able to begin construction.
At just 33, Andrew Carnegie is poised to realized the impossible Building the first major bridge to span the Mississippi River.
Uniting America.
But Carnegie's Decision to use steel has proven costly.
He's already two years behind schedule.
And expenses are mounting.
- DEBT COLLECTOR #1 : "Dear Mr.
Carnegie: our records show that we have not received your payment of $35,000, which was due on August" - DEBT COLLECTOR #2: "Dear Mr.
Carnegie: I am writing to notify you that despite numerous efforts to obtain final payment for the above invoice, I have been unsuccessful.
" - DEBT COLLECTOR #3: "This letter will serve as formal notice to you that you are in default of your obligation to pay the sum of $59,000, for steel delivered to you.
" - DEBT COLLECTOR #2: "and must now accelerate collection efforts in accordance with" - DEBT COLLECTOR #4: "and you will be able to settle this outstanding amount immediately.
" - DEBT COLLECTOR #3: "and we will have no alternative but to commence legal proceedings against you.
" - DONNY DEUTSCH: I guarantee you if these guys were alive today they wouldn't be telling you about their successes.
They would be telling you about their early failures, or the places they almost failed.
That's the great motivator, and you have to be able to embrace that.
If you can't embrace both failure, or the possibility of failure, or the tremendous fear of failure, you can't be wildly successful.
It's just, it's an axiomatic truth.
- NARRATOR: With no money left, Carnegie is forced to bring construction to a halt.
His dream has become a nightmare.
But he's not going down without a fight.
- NARRATOR: The birth of Modern America is well underway.
Trains now touch all four corners of the continent.
Homes across the nation are lit at night.
And the country's most ambitious construction project is in progress on the banks of the Mississippi River led by Andrew Carnegie.
Carnegie has insisted on building his bridge out of steel an unproven material.
With huge costs.
Construction is drastically behind schedule.
And dangerously over budget.
Carnegie is under mounting pressure.
- CARLY FIORINA: The difference between people who succeed and people who fail, I think, Everyone experiences fear.
The difference is, what do you do with your fear? Do you work to overcome it? Or do you let it defeat you? And I think that is actually what distinguishes very successful people from others.
NARRATOR: Desperate, Carnegie reaches out to investors, looking for an infusion of cash.
- CARNEGIE: You'll be glad to learn that the building of the St.
Louis bridge is progressing-smoothly.
I am convinced that steel is the future; however, obtaining such a large quantity of steel is proving to be difficult, causing us some delays.
It is also proving to be extremely expensive.
My forecast shows that we will require another million dollars before the year is out.
But I have no doubt that in time the people will come to see the bridge as the eighth wonder of the world.
Yours sincerely, Andrew Carnegie.
NARRATOR: Carnegie's last-minute pitch works.
He secures the financing he needs.
And finally, after four years, the bridge is complete.
The results are epic.
But Carnegie now faces a new problem.
- DAVID NASAWL: In St.
Louis, one of the real problems was convincing people the bridge wasn't going to fall.
I mean nobody had ever seen bridges like this, anywhere.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie sees all the possible uses for steel.
But before he can realize the materials potential he needs to convince the public of its strength.
And he has a plan to do just that.
A popular superstition at the time, holds that an elephant won't cross an unstable structure.
- DAVID NASAW: The day the bridge opens, Carnegie, who is also a master publicist, sets up a parade across the bridge that's led by an elephant.
- NARRATOR: It's an incredible gamble.
But Carnegie hopes if the elephant crosses, the people will follow.
- (cheers) - DAVID NASAW: As the people of St.
Louis look at this bridge, they see that it can sustain whatever weight's going to be put on it.
- NARRATOR: When the stunt succeeds, Carnegie gets more requests for his steel than he can possibly handle.
And his biggest customer is an industry he knows well.
The railroads are looking to replace their bridges and rails with steel.
But Carnegie can't produce enough of the new material to fill all the orders.
He needs to increase his capacity.
And to do that, he needs to raise additional funds.
So he turns to his old mentor, Tom Scott.
With his help, Carnegie raises over $21 million in today's money.
And with it, he builds his first steel plant.
- DAVID NASAW: He sees the future and he is willing to invest where few other American entrepreneurs are willing to invest: in these gigantic new plants.
- NARRATOR: Sprawled over 100 acres just outside of Pittsburgh Carnegie's steel mill is the largest in the nation.
Capable of rolling out 225 tons of steel a day.
- JIM CRAMER: You have to believe if you're Carnegie that you're going to have multiple years of growth where steel is important.
The faith and optimism that someone like Carnegie had is just off the charts vs.
what we see now.
- NARRATOR: With the new plant, Carnegie can supply as much steel as the country needs.
And make himself a fortune.
But Carnegie's timing couldn't be worse.
After years of overbuilding, the railroads are suddenly struggling to stay profitable.
- H.
W.
BRANDS: There were too many railroads at the time.
There wasn't enough traffic to sustain them.
- NARRATOR: With the railroads in dire need of cargo, John Rockefeller sees an opportunity.
And negotiates better rates for shipping his oil.
But the struggling railroads quickly realize their business won't survive.
And go back on their word.
Causing Rockefeller to pull his oil from the trains.
Carnegie's mentor, Tom Scott, tries to adjust.
But he can't survive without Rockefeller's oil.
His business is decimated.
And Tom Scott never recovers.
- PREACHER: From ashes to ashes, and dust to dust.
- NARRATOR: Andrew Carnegie has lost his mentor.
The man who meant more to him than anyone else in the world.
- Andy.
Now, take this and this to the division superintendant.
You think you can do it? - Yes, sir.
- NARRATOR: As far as Carnegie is concerned, one man drove Tom Scott to his grave.
And now Andrew Carnegie wants revenge.
America's growth following the civil war, is nothing short of epic.
Train tracks link east to west as never before.
Oil lights homes from coast to coast.
And steel is remaking the landscape But just when the growth looks unstoppable the railroad industry--the backbone of the American economy--collapses.
And the nation is thrown into the worst depression it's ever seen.
Andrew Carnegie is on the brink of losing everything.
Without the railroads, he's lost his market for steel.
And he blames his bitter rival, John D.
Rockefeller.
Desperate for a new market, Carnegie notices a trend he can capitalize on.
Unemployed Americans, by the thousands are flooding cities like New York and Chicago, in search of work.
And to accommodate the population surge, buildings are being constructed as fast as possible.
- DAVID NASAW: Carnegie brilliantly begins to see that the future is not in rails but in structural steel, in girders, in beams, to build skyscrapers.
And again, he's ahead of the curve.
- NARRATOR: The world's first skyscraper is built in Chicago.
Its thin brick walls hang on a thick frame manufactured from Carnegie's steel.
In the next few years, over 100,000 new building are erected in Chicago alone.
- Until steel began to become a major product, much ofAmerica could not have happened.
America grew up vertically on steel.
- NARRATOR: Modern America is being built using Carnegie's Steel.
The skyscraper boom makes Andrew Carnegie one of the wealthiest men in America.
But for Carnegie, it's not enough.
John Rockefeller's personal fortune is seven times larger than Carnegie's.
A feat he's achieved through a calculated ruthlessness.
Carnegie believes that to avenge his mentor's death, he must surpass John Rockefeller as the most powerful man in America.
And to do that, he must find help from someone even more cutthroat than his rival.
And he knows the perfect man for the job.
Henry Frick is a self-made millionaire by thirty.
He's one of the Midwest's largest coal suppliers.
A ruthless businessman, Frick has reputation for getting what he wants by any means necessary.
- FRICK: Carter! Carter! This belongs to me now.
Carter! I know you're in there! - NARRATOR: Hiring Henry Frick will give Carnegie the merciless edge he lacks.
- Follow me, sir.
- Henry.
- Andrew.
- Good to see you, thank you for coming.
- It's my pleasure.
- Please, sit.
- Thank you.
Whiskey, neat.
- (sniffles) Now, Henry, I believe you've married since I saw you last.
- FRICK: Marriage changes a man, Andrew.
- Oh.
How's that? - (laughs) Well, let's say I've calmed down a bit.
- Well, it's a noble institution, as they say.
- I don't know about noble, but it's an institution.
- An institution nonetheless, right? (laughs) - (laughs) - MARK CUBAN: The partnership between Carnegie and Frick was analogous to the way a good business partnership works today.
You want somebody as completely opposite and different from you as you possibly can get.
- NARRATOR: Frick's first assignment is to get Carnegie Steel into shape.
His boss believes that Frick will use his toughness to cut costs and eliminate waste leading to bigger profits.
Many see giving Frick so much power as a huge risk.
But Carnegie decides it's a risk worth taking.
- Welcome aboard, Henry.
- Thank you, Andrew.
- NARRATOR: In the end, hiring Frick may be the worst decision of Carnegie's career.
- NARRATOR: America's unprecedented growth is being led by a group of extraordinary men.
Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt creates the biggest railroad company in the country.
John D.
Rockefeller uses standard oil's refining capabilities to light homes from coast to coast.
And now Andrew Carnegie is using the mass produced steel to erect buildings that touch the sky.
Making the country stronger than it's ever been before.
- CARNEGIE: Our profit margin is unassailable.
Our productivity is absolutely as good as any steel mill in Europe or America.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie's steel empire is expanding at a staggering rate.
In just two years, profits have doubled.
- CARNEGIE: Right this way, Sir, and I'll show you the rest.
- NARRATOR: By ramping up production, Carnegie and Frick are able to use the proceeds to buy competitors throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania.
- Carnegie demonstrated that if you're the first at whatever you do, you have a huge advantage over the people who come along later because you've got the jump on them and very often that jump allows you to carve a niche and to maximize your profits within that niche.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie's personal fortune is skyrocketing.
His net worth is now upwards of $3.
5 billion in today's money.
His decision to hire Henry Frick looks like a stroke of genius.
Through intimidation and fear Frick re-negotiates favorable contracts with suppliers.
And eliminated unnecessary expenses while upping production.
- Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four - NARRATOR: Approaching the final decade of the century, Carnegie Steel is more profitable than ever.
Carnegie rewards Frick by making him chairman of his company.
The second most powerful man in steel.
But for Frick, it's not enough.
He wants his boss's seat at the table.
Frick's father had been a failure.
And now he wants to make sure that everyone knows that he's not his father.
Frick, purchases land in the hills east of Pittsburgh.
On it, he builds a members only club for some of the wealthiest men in the country.
The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club sits on a huge artificial lake, where club members can boat and fish.
Even Carnegie joins the club.
- It doesn't seem like a problem to me, we know who our friends are, and we know how to please them.
- Yes, and you can always buy a man.
However, If it's possible not to, I would think that's a better-- - Excuse me just for one moment.
- NARRATOR: To create their playground, the club takes control of the South Fork dam, holding 20 million tons of water.
The largest dam of its kind in the world.
Just 14 miles downriver lies Johnstown a working class community of steel workers and their families, who live under the constant threat that the next rainstorm will wash away the dam.
City officials beg Frick to strengthen the dam.
But he ignores their pleas completely.
- I heard there was an accident.
- Well, you're right.
There has been an accident.
I can't get my carriage across this road.
- Your carriage is too wide for the road, sir.
- Now that is where you and I are going to differ.
My carriage is just fine.
It's the road that's the problem.
- To widen the road we'd have to lower the dam, sir.
- Well, there now.
That wasn't too hard to sort out, was it? - NARRATOR: By lowering the dam, Frick weakens it.
- CARNEGIE: Henry shows me the ledgers and shows me the numbers.
And it was not the number I was expecting; it was a little bit higher than I was expecting.
And the only question remaining is how much money we'll make next year.
I'm a bit dry over here, Henry.
- NARRATOR: Frick is content with his club, his image, and his wealth.
But everything is about to change.
America is in an age of unprecedented prosperity.
The country is connected cost to coast by rail.
Kerosene lamps brighten the night.
And steel is being used to build structures no one could have imagined even a decade earlier.
Overseeing much of the growth are Pittsburgh Steel magnates Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick.
Ideal Partners Together they've driven Carnegie Steel to massive profits.
To celebrate, they've erected the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club - Cheers.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
- NARRATOR: A lakefront Members Only playground.
But construction has weakened the dam surrounding the lake at South Fork Posing an imminent threat to the lives of tens of thousands of people in the valley below.
- NARRATOR: Memorial Day breaks in Johnstown.
As ominous clouds roll in.
- (thunder rumbles) - MOTHER: Hurry on, now.
- NARRATOR: At South Fork, lake levels are rising - NARRATOR: at an inch every 10 minutes.
- More bags.
- Go, go.
- Over here.
- We need more men up here.
- Give me that bag.
We need more men.
- Hurry up.
- (thunder rumbles) - Over here.
- Give me that bag.
- John! Get a telegram to Johnstown! Tell them to evacuate! - We need more men.
- (clicking) - NARRATOR: The message reads "South Fork Dam liable to break.
Notify the people to prepare for the worst.
" - (clicking) - NARRATOR: The Johnstown Telegraph office has seen the same warning many times before.
They ignore it.
- (thunder rumbles) - We need more at the top.
- We're running out of time.
- Leave it! Leave it! Let's get out of here! Now! - (rumbling) - NARRATOR: America is in an age of unprecedented prosperity.
The country is connected coast to coast by rail Kerosene lamps brighten the night.
And steel is being used to build structures no one could have imagined even a decade earlier.
Overseeing much of the growth are Pittsburgh Steel magnates Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick.
Ideal Partners Together They've driven Carnegie Steel to massive profits.
To celebrate, they've erected the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club - Cheers.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
- NARRATOR: A lakefront Members Only playground.
But construction has weakened the dam surrounding the lake at South Fork Posing an imminent threat to the lives of tens of thousands of people in the valley below.
- (Blues Saraceno playing "Save My Soul") When I got to Memphis I put my old baby down He said I can't take you to Heaven I can't save your soul I can't promise forever Whoo With my heart in your hands I can't feel, fell my soul - NARRATOR: Memorial Day breaks in Johnstown.
As ominous clouds roll in.
- (thunder rumbles) - MOTHER: Hurry on, now.
- NARRATOR: At South Fork, lake levels are rising - (thunder rumbles) - NARRATOR: at an inch every 10 minutes.
- More bags.
- Go, go.
- Over here.
- We need more men up here.
- Give me that bag.
We need more men.
- Hurry up.
- (thunder rumbles) - Over here.
- Give me that bag.
- John! Get a telegram to Johnstown! Tell them to evacuate! - We need more men.
- (clicking) - NARRATOR: The message reads "South Fork Dam liable to break.
Notify the people to prepare for the worst.
" - (clicking) - NARRATOR: The Johnstown Telegraph office has seen the same warning many times before.
They ignore it.
- (thunder rumbles) - We need more at the top.
- We're running out of time.
- Leave it! Leave it! Let's get out of here! Now! - (rumbling) - (dog whining) - (rumbling continues) - Get out of here! The dam's burst! - Move away from the window.
- (rumbling) - (glass shatters) - NARRATOR: When the water stops, more than 2,000 people lie dead.
One in three are so mutilated they can't even be identified.
1 ,600 Homes are destroyed and over four square miles of the town are completely leveled.
The Johnstown Flood is the worst man-made disaster in the United States prior to 9/11 .
Bodies will be found for years to come.
Some as far away as Cincinnati, 350 miles from Johnstown.
Volunteers come from across the country to assist in the recovery.
The Flood is the first major peacetime relief effort of the recently formed American Red Cross.
As outrage over the flood grows, the public looks for someone to blame.
Most of that blame falls on the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.
But the members deny responsibility.
Lawsuits are filed But they're ultimately unsuccessful.
In the eyes of an angry public, the South Fork members--including Henry Frick--have gotten away with murder.
The incident forever changes Andrew Carnegie Who feels a sense of responsibility for the disaster, unlike many of his fellow club members.
He soon drops out of South Fork and begins a campaign to rebuild his damaged image.
- When your brand becomes so big that you become the name, you become the face behind the brand, it's difficult.
There's also a great deal of responsibility and risk, and you have to be very, very careful.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie donates millions to help rebuild Johnstown.
- Carnegie gave money to thousands of libraries.
Millions and millions of dollars.
Carnegie wanted to be remembered for the good he had done.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie begins building public monuments across the country.
And soon, a grand music venue in Manhattan becomes his passion.
Carnegie Hall is New York's new home for the performing arts.
And for high society to rub elbows.
On opening night, Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky is the featured performer.
Andrew Carnegie is treated like royalty.
Honored for the masterpiece he's built.
But even in this setting, one man is a bigger presence.
John D.
Rockefeller is worth three times as much as Carnegie.
But the Cathedral Carnegie's built bearing his name, takes their rivalry to another level.
- Oh.
Thank you, Alisha.
- NARRATOR: The men will spend the next 10 years battling each other.
Sparring with Christmas gifts.
Rockefeller sends Carnegie a cheap, paper vest.
Ajab at his simple beginnings as a poor immigrant.
In return, Carnegie sends Rockefeller, a devout Baptist who doesn't drink, a bottle of fine whiskey.
- You know I've had my own little rivalries, I've had a rivalry with Donald trump where I think it was back, 2004, he was giving me a hard time about something and I said "you know what I can write a bigger check than you and not even know it's missing," because I knew if I tweaked him, he would just respond, and he did, and I still like to tweak him just because it's fun - DONNY DEUTSCH: I always say you have to have someone to hate to aim for.
Having an enemy, having an arch enemy, having a competitor is what ups the game for everybody.
- NARRATOR: While Rockefeller's oil empire steadily grows, steel becomes the product of choice for construction.
And Carnegie's business takes off.
- Mr.
Connor - Yes, sir.
- How's the output? - She's running at full capacity, sir.
- Good.
Carry on.
- NARRATOR: Carnegie's steel helps trigger the upward expansion of America's cities.
But if he wants to challenge Rockefeller for the title of America's Most Powerful Businessman Carnegie must become even more profitable.
But he'll pay a price for his ambition.
That will threaten to destroy everything he's worked so hard to build.
The building of Modern America is moving at lightning speed.
Rail lines link east to west in a way never before thought possible.
Oil is burning into the night.
And steel is pushing cities to unimaginable heights.
Driving this growth is a rivalry between two men.
Andrew Carnegie and John D.
Rockefeller.
One the undisputed King of Oil, the other, the Unchallenged Man of Steel.
And each is determined not to be outdone.
- STEVE WYNN: I benefit from high-class competition.
I've been dogged by the competition, bested by the competition a couple times.
But I've had my licks, too, and we've managed to hold our own.
- NARRATOR: To overtake Rockefeller as the richest man in the country, Carnegie can't just be a profitable steel maker.
He's got to be the most profitable.
And for that, he needs an edge.
He sets his sights on a struggling steel mill outside Pittsburgh.
With plans to make it the largest in his steel making empire.
Carnegie invests millions retooling the plant to turn out more structural steel than any other mill of its size.
The Homestead Steel Works is a true modern marvel.
But it can't operate without man power.
- One of the huge costs in a steel mill is labor.
Carnegie knew that to stay profitable.
He had to keep costs low.
And the only way to keep costs low was to reduce wages and increase working hours.
To keep profits growing, Carnegie needs to continue cutting costs.
Including wages.
But he's also determined to repair his image.
Something he can't do in the midst of a labor dispute.
So he turns to his chairman to do the dirty work.
Henry Frick has never been concerned with what people think of his methods.
He's about one thing Winning.
- DAVID NASAW: Carnegie didn't enjoy being the bad guy, being the villain.
Frick didn't seem to mind.
- DONNY DEUTSCH: I think the great leaders find partners who basically can exploit their weaknesses, but not kind of dance on their strengths.
Instead of hiring weaker versions of themselves, they hire people that are tremendous experts at what they're not.
- CARNEGIE: Henry shows me the ledgers, and that was not the number I was expecting.
Now, the only question remains is how much we'll make next year.
- NARRATOR: With Frick firmly installed as chairman of Carnegie Steel The boss heads to Scotland to give him room to operate.
- JIM CRAMER: The industrialists of that period of time are people who are out for themselves to make large fortunes as quickly as possible, even if it means pressing the envelope of what they have to do.
- NARRATOR: Frick begins squeezing all that he can get out of the workers at Homestead.
- DAVID NASAW: Frick decided that the only way to keep the plant running efficiently was with a 12 hour day, six days a week.
What that meant was intolerable working conditions.
No one could work 12 hours a day.
If you're working in an office, you'd fall asleep at your desk.
If you fall asleep in a steel mill, you end up dead.
- MARK CUBAN: You know back when Carnegie was building his empire, obviously there were no labor laws, it was a free for all.
And looking back it seems horrific in a lot of different ways that workers were taken advantage of.
But that was the game that was played back then.
- NARRATOR: The conditions are dangerous.
And a small group of men bands together to raise their concerns.
- DAVID NASAW: Many of the workers at the steel mill felt that change in working conditions was a necessity.
They were exhausted and they wanted wages that were livable.
- NARRATOR: Unions are relatively new in America.
And Frick isn't about to let them take root on his watch.
But before acting, he seeks his boss' counsel.
- "Dear Andrew, it may become necessary to fight it out this summer.
Once got into it will be fought to the finish.
" - NARRATOR: Andrew Carnegie is well aware of Frick's aggressiveness.
It's why he's put three thousand miles between them.
But Carnegie would rather leave some things unsaid.
- "Mr.
Frick, no doubt you will get Homestead right.
You can get anything right, with your mild persistence.
" - There's a fine line, how do we protect the worker, yet, at the same time, continue to grease the wheels for capitalism? Sometimes those two are at cross-purposes.
- NARRATOR: Frick takes Carnegie's words as a clear indication that it's time to go to war.
He ramps up production, pushing his men harder than ever.
In case of a strike, he'll have a stockpile of finished steel.
The men are spending half their lives in the dreadful and dangerous conditions.
And they're about to reach their breaking point.
- (screaming) - (men yelling) - May the Lord in his love and mercy help you.
May the Lord free you from sin and save you and raise you up.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- NARRATOR: Accidents on the plant floor keep multiplying.
Until one proves fatal.
The death has the potential to unite the overwhelmed workforce.
Frick knows what's coming.
- FRICK: "Dear Andrew, I am not prepared to believe that we will win without a severe struggle.
I regret to say it does not seem that there is any other course open for us.
We would better make the fight and be through with it.
" - FRICK: "Henry, One thing we are all sure of no contest will be entered into that will fail.
We all approve of anything you do.
We are with you to the end.
" - NARRATOR: Knowing his boss has his back, Frick throws the first punch.
He tells workers that Carnegie Steel won't negotiate.
And conditions won't be improving.
- WORKER: He can't do that.
- Frick didn't understand the steelworkers believed that the mill belonged to them.
They were the ones who made the steel.
It was their plant and they weren't gonna to let this nasty little Frick take it from them.
- O'DONNELL: Under the management of Mr.
Frick, the Carnegie Company has wiped out organization in the Edgar Thompson works.
Has wiped out organization in the coke region and are about to wipe out organization in Homestead.
- CROWD: No! - O'DONNELL: The time has come to send Mr.
Frick a message.
- CROWD: That's right.
- O'DONNELL: We do not accept the new pay scale.
- CROWD: No.
- O'DONNELL: We do not accept the poor working conditions.
- CROWD: No.
- O'DONNELL: We do not accept the long hours.
- CROWD: No.
- O'DONNELL: And why can we do this? Because we are a union.
- CROWD: Yeah! - O'DONNELL: And nobody, nobody will break us! - CROWD: Yeah! - O'DONNELL: All those in favor of striking, raise your hands.
- CROWD: Yeah! - O'DONNELL: Mr.
Frick? - FRICK: I'm giving you one more chance to call off this strike.
I'll make sure any man who walks out, never returns.
- O'DONNELL: We'll see.
NARRATOR: 2,000 steel workers barricade the front of the plant.
To prevent Frick from bringing in replacements.
The fight has turned personal.
But Frick isn't about to back down.
He calls in reinforcements.
For years, the Pinkerton Detectives have been a private police force.
Best known for tracking down train robbers.
They even stopped a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln.
And were hired as the President's personal bodyguards.
But now they've become an army for hire.
With more men and guns than the U.
S.
Military.
If you have the money, they'll fight for you.
And Frick has the money.
- HEINDE: We'll enter by the river, take them by force if necessary.
Remember your training, follow orders.
If they start shooting we'll hit them back hard.
There is no place for cowardice.
- DAVID NASAW: The Pinkertons were mercenaries.
They were from out of town.
They had no ties to Pittsburgh, no ties to these workers.
They were paid a wage to wield their clubs.
The moment Frick made the decision to bring in Pinkertons, the die was cast and the only way this strike was going to end was in tragedy.
- HEINDE: FIRE! - NARRATOR: 2,000 men barricade themselves inside the Homestead plant.
Causing steel production to grind to a hault.
Carnegie Steel's chairman, Henry Frick, is in no mood to negotiate.
Under pressure to quell the revolt, Frick brings in the Pintertons.
A mercenary army capable of outgunning the U.
S.
Military.
And their presence threatens to be the spark that light the powder keg.
- DAVID NASAW: Frick thought to himself when the workers see the Pinkertons, when they see that I'm not going to back down they will back down.
He thought a show of strength, a show of resolve, was all that was needed.
And that would be the end.
He badly miscalculated.
- O'DONNELL: Hold your ground.
Stay calm.
Stay calm.
- HEINDE: We're here to take possession of this property.
- CROWD: No! - O'DONNELL: I suggest you turn around and go home.
You're not getting in.
- HEINDE: If you do not stand aside, we will mow every one of you down.
CROWD: Muttering.
- O'DONNELL: The blood of innocent men will be on your hands.
- HEINDE: Tear down this barricade.
- CROWD: No! - HEINDE: Fire! Fire! Shoot them.
Shoot! - (guns firing) - (moaning) - (guns firing) - (moaning) - O'DONNELL: Hold the line.
Keep your ground.
- HEINDE: Fire! Fire! - You all right? You all right? - Take it.
- (groaning) - (screaming) - HEINDE: Fire! Fire! - (gagging) - NARRATOR: When the fighting stops, nine Carnegie Steel workers lie dead.
While countless others sustain severe injuries.
But they manage to hold their ground.
Until Pennsylvania's Governor sends in the state militia to finally restore order.
Homestead is back in the hands of the management.
But Andrew Carnegie's problems are far from over.
The public is outraged over the violence, blaming chairman Henry Frick directly.
Many are demanding justice for the dead.
- Mr.
Frick.
- (gun fires) - NARRATOR: The vast and rapid growth ofAmerica is in full swing.
Railroads now connect all 44 states.
Oil is the most precious resource in the country.
And steel is building our cities.
But growth at this pace doesn't come without a cost.
Andrew Carnegie is making more steel than anyone else in the world.
To meet this level of production, his workers are on their feet 12 hours a day, six days a week.
The conditions spur them to barricade the plant, leading Carnegie's Chairman, Henry Frick, to call in mercenaries.
- HEINDE: Fire! - (guns firing) - (moaning) - NARRATOR: A bloody battle leaves nine workers dead.
Frick regains control of Homestead.
But while the carnage is over the public outcry is just beginning.
- DAVID NASAW: It was a massacre.
Not just in terms of the number of injured and dead.
But a massacre that any civilians should be killed, standing and defending their plant.
- NARRATOR: Over night, Homestead becomes a searing symbol of life and death in Industrial America.
- MAURY KLEIN: Carnegie probably was appalled at what happened at Homestead.
He prided himself on portraying his company as an enlightened, progressive company, which in many ways it was.
What Homestead did was cast a stain on that and on his reputation that he had a very hard time living down.
-NARRATOR: Carnegie extends his stay in Scotland Hoping the distance will allow the controversy to blow over.
But American reporters track him down.
- Excuse me, just a word.
- No gentleman.
- Mr.
Carnegie our readers - Another time gentlemen.
- Yes, just a word.
- I am not in the habit of giving interviews in the middle of public parks.
- Mr.
Carnegie.
- Get out of my damned way.
- NARRATOR: While Carnegie's hounded by press abroad At home, the public's outrage is escalating.
A new group is emerging, calling themselves "The Anarchists.
" Known for their violent tactics, they are beginning to strike out.
Whenever and wherever they see injustice.
Now they've turned their attention to the massacre at Homestead.
Demanding payback.
Their target is the chairman of Carnegie Steel.
Henry Frick is determined to get steel production back up to speed.
But his enemies have other plans.
- (footsteps) - Mr.
Frick.
- (gun fires) - (yells) - (Frick groans) - (choking) - (grunting) - Get off of me.
Let me go.