The Men Who Built America

The nation attempts to rebuild following the destruction of the Civil War; the demand for oil goes sky high.

Kerosene is lighting America after dark in unprecedented ways. The demand for oil is sky high and Vanderbilt knows that oil can fill his trains. He turns to a young maverick oilman from Ohio, John D. Rockefeller, to do just that.

Andrew Carnegie immigrates to the United States with his parents and starts working at age 12. He finds a patron in railroad executive Tom Scott who teaches him about the business. By age 30, while already running his own business, Scott hires him to build a bridge over the Mississippi river to link East and West in a way never before thought possible by train. Carnegie agrees, but doesn't know how he'll build a bridge strong enough. Carnegie's doubt is quelled when he finds his answer in steel. Before Carnegie realizes the full potential of steel, his mentor Scott dies in a state of humiliation at the hands of John D. Rockefeller's oil pipeline. Carnegie vows to have his revenge and best Rockefeller.

Carnegie hires a hatchet man, Henry Frick, to help him achieve his goal of besting Rockefellar. The partnership seems promising, but Carnegie does not know that Frick is running his factories far beyond capacity. Frick cuts corners and soon the pair is responsible for the biggest manmade disaster America has ever seen: the Johnstown flood, which claims more than 2000 lives. Carnegie hates being disliked, and his initial impetus to seek revenge becomes the furthest thing from his mind.

While Carnegie and Rockefeller continue to battle, JP Morgan arrives on the scene and establishes a bank in New York City that has one goal: to further the technological advancements of America.

With an investment from Morgan, the Edison Electric Company is created and begins wiring homes in New York. A rival, Nikola Tesla, soon emerges with a different technology for electric light.