The Gilded Age | Rise of the Robber Barons | 2

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2020

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the 1870s and 1880s, businessmen clawed their way to the top of the new industrial economy, accumulating staggering fortunes. Oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller ruthlessly eliminated his rivals one by one, seizing control over the nation’s refineries. Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie revolutionized the industry with his relentless drive to cut costs. And banker J. P. Morgan conquered Wall Street, commanding vast amounts of capital to consolidate corporations.

But the concentration of wealth and power had dire consequences for ordinary Americans, and in the summer of 1877 frustrated workers fought back. They blocked freight trains, shut down major rail lines and crippled the nation’s economy.

The strike spread like wildfire and sparked deadly violence.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon Music,
0:05.6	download the app today.
0:09.4	Imagine us July 1877, sweltering summer day in Pittsburgh.
0:23.1	You're an officer in the 6th Division of the State Militia.
0:26.1	You've been called to put down a protest at the local Pennsylvania Railroad Yards.
0:30.6	Fifty yards ahead of you, railroad workers have crowded the tracks, blocking the switches
0:34.6	so trains can't get out.
0:36.5	You're standing shoulder to shoulder with your fellow militiamen, exchanging tense glances.
0:40.8	Your commander steps up.
0:42.6	Alright boys, you have one job.
0:44.6	Clear the tracks.
0:46.4	You and your fellow officers stay where you are.
0:48.6	Did you not hear me?
0:49.9	Clear the tracks.
0:50.9	Now, let's go.
0:52.7	But you and your fellow officers stay where you are.
0:55.3	Did you not hear me, men?
0:56.6	I said clear the tracks.
0:58.4	Enough is enough.
0:59.4	It's time to put this strike to an end.
1:01.4	You look at the man next to you.
1:03.2	There's a glint in his eye that gives you courage.
	...

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