Running Time:
4 discs x thirty minutes each
Grade Level:
7 - Adult
Captions:
Closed Captions
,
Spanish Subtitles
AVP Release Date:
May 2010
Producer:
Centre Communications/Ambrose Video Publishing
This series offers a fresh perspective on how railroads created and shaped America's financial institutions, America's singular brand of capitalism and its unique way of doing business. The growth of American railroads from 1830 to 1930 is identical with the growth of the nation into the premier industrial power in the world. It is a colorful story that examines the roles and contributions of Johns Hopkins, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould and E.H. Harriman. It is a story that begins a new era in the 21st century with Warren Buffett and his purchase of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
DVD Extras: Closed Captioning, Spanish Subtitles, Educator's Guide, Blackline Master Quizzes, Timeline, 31 Maps, & Gallery of Images
- Program 1: Railroads Come to America (1830 - 1840)
- The Birth of the Steam Locomotive
- It All Begins: The Baltimore and Ohio
- The Steam Engine
Running Time: 30 minutes
In 1830, America was an agrarian nation slowly inching its way west across the continent, but that was about to change spectacularly with the introduction of the steam locomotive and railroads.
Chapters:
- Program 2: The First Great Railroad Boom (1841 - 1860)
- America's Brand of Capitalism Emerges from Railroad Fever
- Railroads Become Big Business
- America's First Wave of Rail Lines
Running Time: 30 minutes
By 1840 the railroad building boom was on and all of America was gripped by railroad fever and the expectation railroads offered to become a leading industrial power.
Chapters:
- Program 3: A New Era in American Railroading (1861 - 1870)
- President Lincoln's Railroad
- Railroads and the Civil War
- Depots, Pullman Cars and Airbrakes
- The Transcontinental Railroad
Running Time: 30 minutes
During the Civil War Railroads dramatically changed the way war was waged forever. But even more significantly for America, President Abraham Lincoln set the course for railroads to place the nation on the path to greatness as a world power.
Chapters:
- Program 4: The Second Great Railroad Boom (1871 - 2010)
- The Railroads Move West
- The Railroad Robber Barons
- The Federal Government Steps In
- Consolidation and the Diesel Engine
- America's Railroads Today
Running Time: 30 minutes
The Gilded Age, an era of great wealth and vast power, was driven by the railroad industry. It was also a period when the Federal government finally decided to step off the sidelines and help direct the nation's economy by controlling the railroads.
Chapters:
Clip Length: 3 minutes 56 seconds
Downloadable Documents:
18th Century Turning Points in U.S. History |
19th Century Turning Points in U.S. History |
Slavery and the Making of America |
A History of Jewish American Achievement |