Empires of Industry - DVD

Empires of Industry - Black Gold: The Story of Oil (History Channel)

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Editorial Review:

The most valuable substance on earth has brought wealth to poor nations and nearly bankrupted wealthy ones. It has created cities overnight--sometimes destroying them just as quickly--and has caused rampant international warfare. When a Canadian chemist found a way to turn petroleum into kerosene in the 1850s, the need for oil exploded. "Black gold" burns at the heart of the modern age, making those who control it the wealthiest and most powerful men on earth. Black Gold: The Story of Oil narrates the stories of these men--including John D. Rockefeller and William Mellon--and the empires they built. Learn how oil came to dominate American industry--and about the nation's current dependency--and discover why the resource continues to cause global flare-ups. EMPIRES OF INDUSTRY presents the comprehensive history of "black gold," the resource that continues to govern our world. DVD Features: Interactive Menus; Scene Selection

Empires of Industry

Empires of Industry is a mini-series which explores the cornerstones of America's economic might that established the United States as a world leader. Each of the one hour programs in this remarkable series focuses on an industry which played a unique role in America's rise to world economic dominance. The stories of changing fortunes in the steel, coal, brewing, ship building and textile industries reveal much about our country's past and present. Empires of Industry would be useful for classes on American History, History of Science and Technology, Economics and American Culture. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

Black Gold: The Story of Oil

Modern America depends on a steady source of petroleum and petroleum by-products to satisfy its ever-increasing and voracious appetite for fuel. Oil, the “black gold” of the ground, is one of America’s most precious and abundant commodities, and yet America still need’s the oil exports of Arab nations to fill its need. Black Gold, The Story of Oil chronicles the birth and rise of the oil industry in the United States, from its fledgling beginnings, through the days of John D. Rockefeller and the robber barons, to the Gulf War and the present.

Vocabulary

• antithesis
• apex
• commodity
• cower
• culmination
• deploy
• derivative
• embers
• extract
• extrovert
• illuminant
• introvert
• invincible
• kerosene
• monopoly
• oblivion
• persistence
• resolve
• sovereign
• tailspin

Discussion Questions

1. Oil is sometimes called “black gold.” Why is it called by this name?

2. Prior to the discovery of kerosene, Americans illuminated their homes with candles or whale oil. How did kerosene change the lives of Americans? How did the discovery of kerosene change the process of gathering petroleum?

3. What is persistence? How did Edwin Drake’s persistence finally pay off? What other figures in American history have displayed remarkable persistence?

4. Standard Oil made John D. Rockefeller one of the richest men in American history. How and why did Rockefeller get into the oil business?

5. Discuss the concept of a boom/bust economy and the boom/bust towns that surrounded the oil industry. What industries today still have boom/bust characteristics?

6. How did Standard Oil eliminate most of its competition?

7. Besides being one of the richest men in America, John D. Rockefeller was also one of the most criticized. Why did Rockefeller face so much criticism?

8. Why did Thomas Edison’s light bulb threaten the oil industry?

9. How did the automobile industry save the oil industry?

10. In the early years of the 20th century, Spindle Top in Texas erupted into the largest oil well in America. How did Spindle Top change the oil industry?

11. What is OPEC? Why did it place and embargo on the United States in the 1970s? What were the results?

Extended Activities

1. Create a poster that illustrates the uses for petroleum and petroleum by-products and also suggests some other alternatives for these products.

2. Imagine that you are a newspaper reporter. Write an account of the eruption of Spindle Top that conveys the magnitude of this oil strike to your readers.

Empires of Industry - Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel (History Channel)

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

America is built on a steel skeleton. Without Andrew Carnegie, that skeleton-and the nation-might have taken a different form. Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel visits historic ironworks-namely Saugus and Hopewell-as well as today's massive, computerized steel mills and chronicles the evolution of the industry. Learn how Carnegie built an empire so large that it led to the first billion-dollar corporation and listen as industrial historians detail the technological developments that powered the nation's economy and launched steel into the future. Witness the setbacks, too, such as intense labor unrest and increasing international competition. Through expert interviews, period photos, and rare archival footage, THE HISTORY CHANNEL® illuminates the industry that built America-and the man who forged that industry. DVD Features: Interactive Menus; Scene Selection. Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel chronicles the rise of the iron and steel industries in the United States and the personal ascent of immigrant Andrew Carnegie, whose steel company would one day make him the richest man in America. The American iron, and later steel, industries were the backbone of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, supplying the material that would enable the growth of railroads, skyscrapers, war machines and a host of other industries. It is the story of the rise of big industry in the United States, in all its glory, and all its shame. While the steel industry would make men such as Andrew Carnegie wealthy beyond imagination, it would also cripple, maim, and kill those who toiled to keep the furnaces blasting and the steel rolling.

Empires of Industry

Empires of Industry is a mini-series which explores the cornerstones of America's economic might that established the United States as a world leader. Each of the one hour programs in this remarkable series focuses on an industry which played a unique role in America's rise to world economic dominance. The stories of changing fortunes in the steel, coal, brewing, ship building and textile industries reveal much about our country's past and present. Empires of Industry would be useful for classes on American History, History of Science and Technology, Economics and American Culture. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel

Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel chronicles the rise of the iron and steel industries in the United States and the personal ascent of immigrant Andrew Carnegie, whose steel company would one day make him the richest man in America. The American iron, and later steel, industries were the backbone of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, supplying the material that would enable the growth of railroads, skyscrapers, war machines and a host of other industries. It is the story of the rise of big industry in the United States, in all its glory, and all its shame. While the steel industry would make men such as Andrew Carnegie wealthy beyond imagination, it would also cripple, maim, and kill those who toiled to keep the furnaces blasting and the steel rolling.

Vocabulary

• affable
• affinity
• alchemy
• charisma
• circumvent
• commodities
• consummated
• diminutive
• dire
• fervor
• gauntlet
• inherently
• logistics
• manifest destiny
• molten
• munitions
• scab
• slag
• smelting
• utopia

Discussion Questions

1. To some people, Andrew Carnegie was the manifestation of the “American dream.” Do you agree or disagree?

2. The United States' iron and steel industries helped make the United States the most powerful nation in the world. What was the role of these industries in the U.S.' ascent to world power?

3. Molten iron is called “pig iron.” How did it get this nickname? How does this nickname reflect the lives and times of the workers who coined it?

4. Many early iron workers, as in other early industries, were indentured servants. What is an indentured servant? How did indentured servants contribute to the growth of both colonial America and the United States?

5. How did the iron industry contribute to the American Revolution and American independence?

6. What is the “hot blast” process and how did it change the iron industry?

7. What is the “Bessemer” process and how is it responsible for the birth and growth of the steel industry?

8. Steel is known as the “beast of American industry.” What is meant by this phrase and why is the steel industry associated with it?

9. Working in the steel mills was one of the most dangerous jobs in industry. What were some of the dangers to steel workers? Why would workers continue to work in so dangerous an environment?

10. How did the invention and mass production of the automobile influence the steel industry?

11. How has foreign competition changed the way America conducts business?

Extended Activities

1. Create a poster that illustrates the process of turning ore into iron in the early iron industry. Then illustrate how the advances in technology altered the process.

2. Imagine that you are a journalist during the Homestead Strike of the 1880s. Write an editorial in which you recount the events of the strike and give your views on both the workers' and owners' positions.

Empires of Industry - War Planes of World War II (History Channel)

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World War II turned the American aviation industry into a huge, high-tech giant. The war spurred the production of more than 300,000 warplanes, among them some of the greatest planes of all time: the C-47 transport (the "Goony Bird"); the rugged B-17 Flying Fortress; the B-24 Liberator, mass-produced by Ford on the world’s longest assembly line; the P-51 Mustang, the greatest prop-driven fighter; and the scrappy Grumman "Iron Works" output – Wildcats and Hellcats that leapt from the decks of U.S. aircraft carriers to maul the Japanese air force. This program includes modern footage of restored aircraft and history footage from factory floor to mile-high dogfights, capturing the urgency and adrenaline of World War II. DVD Features: Interactive Menus; Scene Selection

Empires of Industry

Empires of Industry is a mini-series which explores the cornerstones of America's economic might that established the United States as a world leader. Each of the one hour programs in this remarkable series focuses on an industry which played a unique role in America's rise to world economic dominance. The stories of changing fortunes in the steel, coal, brewing, ship building and textile industries reveal much about our country's past and present. Empires of Industry would be useful for classes on American History, History of Science and Technology, Economics and American Culture. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

War Planes of World War II

This episode of Empires of Industry examines the home front effort that created the American flying forces of World War II, a significant part of the “arsenal of democracy.” Because of the industrial might and effort of the American people, the United States was able to dominate the skies over Europe and the Pacific, and emerge victorious.

Vocabulary

• appalled
• armada
• aviation
• decimate
• discord
• embryonic
• escalate
• formidable
• horrendous
• ideology
• isolationism
• manifest
• momentum
• obsolete
• ponderous
• prelude
• prototype
• synonymous
• veritable

Discussion Questions

1. Prior to World War II, the United States practiced isolationism. What is isolationism? How did the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor change the policy of isolationism?

2. Rosie the Riveter was a symbolic icon that represented the efforts of American women in the war effort. How did World War II provide opportunities for women that were unavailable before the war? What were the long-term effects of women’s war efforts? How did women help enable US victory?

3. Who or what were barnstormers? Why were they called this?

4. Discuss Bill Boeing’s successful formula.

5. What was Boeing’s biggest mistake? What did it cost the company?

6. American soldiers called the DC3 the “Gooney Bird.” Why?

7. Why was the B17 called the “Flying Fortress?”

8. Why did the United States government look to industrialist Henry Ford to increase the productivity of bomber manufacturing?

9. How did the increased bomber manufacturing help to win the war?

10. Discuss Grumman’s strategy to keep employees happy and productive.

Extended Activities

1. Recreate newspaper headlines for December 7, 1941.

2. Design a World War II fighter or bomber.

Empires of Industry - Brewed in America (History Channel)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Beer 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The documentary acknowledges that since at least the Sumerian civilization, humans have consumed beer. However, it goes further to explain how pasteurization, caps, and cans changed the product. I learned of how the Prohibition movement had multiple causes, not just a few, but I also learned that beer companies had their counterattack.

Did you ever see that episode of "The Simpsons" where Grandpa Simpson tries to keep German paintings away from Mr. Burns? In that episode, Grandpa implies that he was military buddies with the fathers or grandfathers of all the men in Springfield. The same dynamic happens in this work: there are young Coors, Pabsts, and Busches present to speak about their entrepreneurial ancestors. One interviewee said "much more simpler" and may need to brush up on his English grammar rules. This work explains why certain beer companies have survived, but it's still amazing considering how companies come and go. (Think of Pan Am, Marshall Fields in Chicago, and many other examples of this dynamic.)

There are certain things left out. The work mentions competition amongst beer companies, but says nothing on the competition between beer versus wine, or other products--legal or illegal. Would the characters in the film "Sideways" like or hate this work? The Coors family plays a role in Colorado politics to this day, but it's not mentioned. Gay activists battled the Coors company in a way only slightly less important than the Stonewall riots, but it doesn't come up. Black activists have criticized all the alcohol advertising in Black publications, but this work doesn't mention that controversy. By the way, frat boys as loyal beer drinkers doesn't come up either.

I saw a documentary on candy and I definitely wanted some sweets afterwards. I don't care for beer and this didn't want to make me go out and buy some. Beer enthusiasts may be affected differently, however.

Editorial Review:

Beer has been brewed in America ever since the Puritans arrived and this documentary from the History Channel aims to chart the history and evolution behind a product that has become a big business over the years.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 733961758108 Manufacturer No: AAE-75810

Empires of Industry - Cola Wars (History Channel)

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

Coke v. Pepsi 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 9 people found this review helpful.

If you want to know the history of the cola wars, then here it is. This explores the origins of Coke and Pepsi and how their rivalry was inflamed. The work was front-loaded; there was more discussion about the origins than about taste challenges and other modern occurrences.

The selection of interviewees was small and very homogenous. Though one sees people of all races, ages, and genders drinking the sodas, all the interviewees were older, white men. Moreover, there were product placements galore. For example, one man didn't just discuss Coke; he wore a Coke tie and there was a huge Coke symbol a few feet behind him.

Personally, I still like Pepsi better; it's smoother and not as bubbly. While I wanted to eat candy after watching a candy documentary, this documentary did not make me want to run out and buy any more soda than I normally consume.

Editorial Review:

Various cola manufacturers have tried and failed to dislodge Coca-Cola and Pepsi from their dominance in the soft drinks market but at the start of the 21st century these two giants still reign supreme. This History Channel presentation charters the lengthy history of the two companies while also taking a look at how their rivalry has reached fever pitch.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 733961752731 Manufacturer No: AAE-75273

Empires of Industry - Battle for the Skies (History Channel)

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

HH vs. JT 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

good history of the rivalry between howard hughes and TWA and juan trippe of pan am. a lot of history and some present day info from juan's son's and people who knew hughes.

Editorial Review:

Air travel has all but obliterated time and distance. Journeys once measured in weeks now take hours. It's an amazing accomplishment: a multi-billion dollar industry that changed the world within the span of a lifetime--or actually two. Follow the lives of two men who dominated the rise of international air travel: Juan Trippe, whose Pan American Airways practically created the industry, and eccentric tycoon Howard Hughes, who built TWA.

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Empires Of Industry - Legacy Of King Coal (History Channel)

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Editorial Review:

Everything about the job is dangerous. The mines can cave in. Poisonous gasses can leech from the rock and suffocate miners, or ignite in horrific explosions. Deep beneath the earth, coal miners risk their lives to extract the fuel that powers the industrial colossus that is America. THE LEGACY OF KING COAL is a comprehensive chronicle of this vital industry, featuring extensive footage of coal mining through the years. Trace the long history of labor unrest that often pointed the way for other industries, and relive some of the worst industrial disasters in history. Descend into the bowels of the earth for an up-close look at modern coal mining, and see how, despite countless technological advances and safety features, it remains one of the most dangerous of man's undertakings. In extensive interviews, labor leaders and coal company presidents offer insights into this vital industry, while industrial historians trace the impact of coal on the American economy. THE LEGACY OF KING COAL is a fascinating journey through the history of industrial America a saga of greed, hunger and the rights of the men who risk their lives beneath the earth.

Empires Of Industry - Wildcatters (History Channel)

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Editorial Review:

The 20th century was powered by oil--a fact made possible by a discovery early in the century at a lonely spot called Spindletop in Texas. A gusher of oil was unleashed that rocketed 100 feet skyward for nine straight days. Suddenly, the Lone Star state was flush with a new breed of men--the wildcatters. Part gambler, part geologist, a wildcatter risked everything he had to drill a hole in the ground, and made it possible for a horse and buggy nation to become a world of automobiles and airplanes.

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