america is in an age of unprecedented prosperity [Music] 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 our pittsburgh steel magnates andrew carnegie and henry frick [Music] ideal partners together they've driven carnegie steel to massive profits [Music] to celebrate they've erected the south fork fishing and hunting club cheers cheers a lakefront members-only playground [Music] 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 [Music] he said i can't take you to heaven [Music] forever [Applause] [Music] memorial day breaks in johnstown as ominous clouds roll in [Music] hurry on now at south fork lake levels are rising at an inch every 10 minutes here get a telegram to johnstown tell them to evacuate [Music] [Music] the message reads south fork damn liable to break notify the people to prepare for the worst the johnstown telegraph office has seen the same warning many times before they ignore it [Music] [Music] running
out of time let's get out of here now [Music] [Music] [Applause] get out of here [Music] move away from the window [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] when the water stops more than 2 000 people lie dead [Music] one in three are so mutilated they can't even be identified [Music] sixteen hundred 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 [Music] some as far away as cincinnati 350 miles from
johnstown [Music] 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 [Music] 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 [Music] 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 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 carnegie begins building public
monuments across the country and soon a grand music venue in manhattan becomes his passion [Music] [Music] [Music] carnegie hall is new york's new home for the performing arts and for high society to rub elbows on opening night russian composer peter tchaikovsky is the featured performer [Music] andrew carnegie is treated like royalty [Music] 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 [Music] but the cathedral carnegie's built bearing his name takes their rivalry to another level oh thank
you alicia the men will spend the next 10 years battling each other sparring with christmas gifts [Music] rockefeller sends carnegie a cheap paper vest a jab 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 i said you know what i could write a bigger check than you and not even know what's
missing because i knew if i tweaked him he would just respond and he did and and i still like to tweak him just because it's fun [Music] 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 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 in full capacity sir good carry on 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 [Music] but he'll pay a price for his ambition that will threaten to destroy everything he's worked so hard to build [Applause] [Music] the building of modern america is moving at lightning speed [Music] 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 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 managed to hold our own 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 [Music] 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 manpower one of the huge costs in a steel mill was 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 [Music] 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 carnegie didn't enjoy being a bad guy being a villain frick didn't seem to mind 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 hey show me the
at the end and that was not the number i was expecting and the only question that remains is how much we'll make next year agreed with frick firmly installed as chairman of carnegie steel the boss heads to scotland to give him room to operate [Music] 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 frick begins squeezing all that he can get out of the workers at homestead frick decided that the
only way to keep the plant running efficiently was with a 12-hour day six days a week [Music] what that meant was intolerable working conditions no one could work 12 hours a day if you're working in an office you fall asleep at your desk if you fall asleep in a steel mill you end up dead [Music] you know back when carnegie was building his empire obviously there were no labor laws it was 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 the conditions are dangerous and a small group of men bands together to raise their concerns many of the workers at the steel mill felt that uh change in working conditions was a necessity they were exhausted and they wanted wages that were livable 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's counsel dear andrew it may become necessary to fight it out this summer once got into it will be fought to the finish andrew
carnegie is well aware of frick's aggressiveness it's why he's put three thousand miles between them [Music] but carnegie would rather leave some things unsaid mr frick no doubt he 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 across purposes [Music] 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 [Music] in case
of a strike he'll have a stockpile of finished steel [Music] the men are spending half their lives in the dreadful and dangerous conditions [Music] and they're about to reach their breaking point [Applause] america is growing at a staggering rate linked by railroads the country is uniting for the first time the age of steel has arrived and andrew carnegie is building america's cities erecting skyscrapers that dwarf anything ever seen andrew carnegie was somebody that i think in terms of because i do buildings and he really came up with the mass production of steel he was the
first and he was the biggest by far by a factor of 30 times and what he built was unbelievable and just got bigger and bigger and bigger to meet the demand for his steel carnegie orders his chairman henry frick to increase production while he heads to scotland under frick's watch workers spend 12 hours a day six days a week stoking the fires of carnegie's plant outside pittsburgh and the conditions are pushing workers to their breaking point [Music] 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 [Music] accidents on the plant floor keep multiplying [Music] until one proves fatal the death has the potential to unite the overwhelmed workforce [Music] frick knows what's coming [Music] dear andrew i'm not prepared to believe 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 henry one thing we are all sure of no contest will
be entered into that will fail we all approve of anything you do [Music] we are with you to the end [Music] 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 [Music] frick didn't understand that the steel workers believed that the mill belonged to them they were the ones who made this deal you know it was their plan and they weren't going to let this nasty little frick take it from her under the management of mr frick the carnegie company has wiped
out organization in the edgar thompson works has wiped that organization in the coke region and are about to wipe out organization in homestead the time has come to send mr frick a message that's right we do not accept the new pay scale we do not accept the poor working conditions we do not accept the long hours and why can we do this because we are a union and nobody nobody will break us all those in favor of striking raise your hands [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] mr frick i'm giving you one more chance to call
off this strike i'll make sure any man who walks out never returns we'll see [Music] two thousand steel workers barricade the front of the plant to prevent frick from bringing in replacements [Music] the fight has turned personal but frick isn't about to back down he calls in reinforcements [Music] 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 [Music] 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 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 the pinkingtons 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 dye was cast and the only way this strike was
gonna end was in tragedy the building of modern america is in full force cities team with new construction projects built of steel that steel travels around the country on railroads that unite us as never before the growth is driven by a rivalry between the country's wealthiest men andrew carnegie and john d rockefeller the great men of those times created incredible capabilities that were truly important for the establishment of a great strong country but while the ohio oil man is quietly amassing his fortune the pennsylvania steel king is dealing with a rebellion [Music] two thousand men
barricade themselves inside the homestead plant causing steel production to grind to a halt carnegie steel's chairman henry frick is in no mood to negotiate under pressure to quell the revolt frick brings in the pinkertons a mercenary army capable of outgunning the us military and their presence threatens to be the spark that lights the powder keg frick thought to himself when the workers see the pinkertons when they see that i'm not gonna 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 go ahead hold your ground stay calm stay calm we're here to take possession of this property [Music] i suggest you turn around and go home you're not getting in if you do not stand aside we will mow every one of you down of innocent men will be on your hands tear down this barricade [Applause] [Music] [Applause] fire [Music] [Applause] [Music] ah keep your ground thank you [Applause] fire fire fire [Music] fire [Music] [Music] when the fighting stops nine carnegie steel workers lie dead while countless others sustained severe injuries but they
managed to hold their ground until pennsylvania's governor sends in the state militia to finally restore order [Music] homestead is back in the hands of 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 the vast and rapid growth of america 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 [Music] 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 [Music] [Music] a bloody battle leaves nine workers dead prick regains control of homestead [Music] but while the carnage is over the public outcry is just beginning 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 [Music] overnight homestead becomes a searing symbol of life and death in industrial america [Music] 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 to catch the stain on that and on his reputation that he had a very hard time living down 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 just the words uh no gentleman uh
mr carnegie all right another time gentleman just a word i'm not in the habit of giving interviews in the middle of public parks mr curtis get out of my damned way 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 [Music] mr come frick wow me uh [Music] andrew carnegie fights to save his steel empire after the bloody attempt on his chairman's life but just as carnegie's rivalry with rockefeller reaches the breaking point a new threat [Music] are we on the verge of emerges not if we act wisely j.p morgan partners with a famous inventor you're about to become a very busy man edison to spark a revolution that changes the world forever but every revolution has a dark side [Music] i do not want the house of
morgan associated with electricity i have a chance to build here what would it take to light all the homes in new york city this is what's going to happen there's going to be an end to this war [Music] [Applause] [Music] the best time to buy is when there's blood on the streets you
