Simpson 1

The Men Who Built America

Cornelius Vanderbilt:

Businessman who wanted to get ahead

Tough man who got into a lot of fights
The Commodore transported goods by boat
Built the largest shipping company
Sells all his ships and invests in railroads
Becomes richest man in the world with his risky decision to sell his ship
company
His son died in the war
His less accomplished son has to carry on his business (William)
Owns only Railway Bridge into New York City and uses this advantage to win
against his opponents by shutting it off. Nobody else can use this bridge now.
This keeps his rivals from making money
The bridge is the biggest port
He buys shares from rivals who are losing money fast
Gains the largest single rail company in America
Created the grand central station
Owns 40% of Americas railroads but wants them all, especially the Erie Line
(Chicago to new York)
Goud and Fisk printed out shares (highly illegal now) so he couldnt get 50%.
They basically stole from him because he keeps buying more shares
Has to find an oil supplier to transport kerosene

John D. Rockefeller

Oil supplier for Vanderbilt

Owns a refining business that is not very successful
Vanderbilt sees him as weak and thinks he can use him to help Vs business
Rockefeller and Vanderbilt need each other to make enhance each others
businesses
Rockefeller misses his train to New York to see V and the train crashes. Hes
now a confident man of destiny, he meets with V
Cant make enough oil for V so he needs to find more
Oil erupts from the ground, making him realize he can drill for oil (which is
risky)
He gets a scientist and realizes he can invest in an oil refining business
This becomes a popular business because kerosene starts fires. By refining it,
it is safe
Has too much oil for V to ship, which attracts Vs opponents. He gets a better
deal from Scott than V
Begins to buy out his rivals (monopoly)
Controls 90% of oil
V forms an alliance with Scott to use all the railroads. R sees war
Needs to find a new way to transport oil or the railroads will win

Simpson 2

Begins transporting oil by pipeline, which will make the railroad business
suffer
Depression hits
V dies, leaving his railroads to his son William in 1881
Carnegie and Scott want to expand the railroad empire by creating their own
pipelines
Shuts down his business in Pittsburgh so that he doesnt have to use their
railroads, causing riots
Tom Scotts business is ruined

Andy Carnegie

Hired by scott as his assistant at age 12

Needs to build a mile long rail bridge across the Mississippi river for Scott
Wants this bridge made with steel
Scientist learns how to make steel in 15 mins, Carnegie uses this new info
and builds the first major mississpiip bridge
Steel is expensive, put in major debt
Bridge is completed after 4 years, but people are scared to use it if it falls
He has an elephant cros the bridge and people trust it
Now has a mojor steel supply company
Scott dies and Carnegie loses his mentorbeins building skyscrapers with all of
his steel
Becomes a mojor product and he is now the wealthiest man in America
Henry frick supplies coal
Hires frick to give hm a merciless edge that his company needs to counteract
his weaknesses
Frick wants th w dam to be taken down