Project: The Men Who Built America
EPISODE 5:
A NEW RIVAL EMERGES
The Gilded Age
EPISODE 5 MISSION
Directions: Write the episode mission below in the "Episode Mission" box of your Episode 3 Lesson Chronicles.
I can tell you the part that Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla played in building America. |
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EPISODE 5 OVERVIEW
Directions: Read the Episode 5 Overview below.
While Carnegie and Rockefeller continue to battle, J.P. Morgan arrives on the scene and establishes a bank in New York City that has one goal: to further the technological advancements of America through finance. As he builds his empire and consolidates industries, Morgan decides to take a big risk. He enlists inventor Thomas Edison to help bring electricity to every home and business in the country. Rockefeller continues to expand his Standard Oil Company and aims to keep kerosene as the dominant resource powering electricity. Regardless of these competitive dynamics, American infrastructure is growing and cities are on the rise.
EPISODE 5 VOCABULARY WORDS & TERMS
Directions: Write the vocabulary words and terms below in the "Vocabulary and Terms" box of your Episode 5 Lesson Chronicles.
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alternating current: an electric current where the flow of electricity changes direction periodically and is transmitted by a transformer allowing for high voltage power over long distances
compensation: something that is done or given to make up for damage, trouble, injury, or inconvenience direct current: an electric current where the flow of electricity is in one direction and operates at the same voltage level throughout; used for low voltage and short distance transmission Thomas Edison: famous inventor and innovator that created the first manufactured light bulb and was the first to establish the electric lighting system that brought electricity and light to homes and businesses; proponent of the DC electrical current for providing electricity generator: a machine that produces electricity legacy: something a person leaves behind or is remembered for after their death liability: someone or something that causes problems J.P. Morgan: an American financier and banker who controlled corporate finance and industrial consolidation and introduced electrical lighting to households around the world when he funded Thomas Edison’s electrical lighting system, grids, and power stations network: a system of wires, people, computers, etc… that are connected to each other power grid: a network of power lines, transformers, and other equipment used in distributing electricity to a town, city, or state power station: a building or group of buildings in which electricity for a large area is produced provision: a condition in a contract that requires one or both parties to complete a requirement by a specified time or prevents one or both parties from doing something during a specified time Nikola Tesla: proponent of the AC electrical current for providing electricity who created technology that led to radio and wireless communication transmission: the act or process of sending electrical signals to a radio, television, computer, or other electronic device George Westinghouse: an American entrepreneur and engineer who funded Nikola Tesla’s AC Current which ended up being the current America uses to provide people with electricity |
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EPISODE 5 GUIDE
Directions: While Watching Episode 5: A New Rival Emerges, answer each of the following questions in the "Episode Guide" section of your Episode 5 Lesson Chronicles. You should read one question ahead so that you are always listening for the answers you need. If you are absent, you can view the Episode by clicking on the link below.
- And the empire he spent a lifetime building is on the verge of collapse. Hoping to salvage his _________________, Carnegie cuts short his trip abroad, and returns to Pittsburgh.
- Carnegie isn't happy. He whispers to newspaper reporters in Pittsburgh that if he had have been around, ___________________.
- Frick refuses to accept any responsibility. Outraged that Carnegie has hung him out to dry, he even goes behind his back and attempts to orchestrate a ____________________.
- ___________________ is a banker, who's made a fortune consolidating broken industries, buying out failing companies, and returning them to profitability.
- Donald Trump says this about J.P. Morgan, “Basically he's one man who just literally dominated the _________________, and, essentially, dominated financing in the country.
- Maury Klein says this of J.P. Morgan, “He excelled at taking warring parties, who were ______________________, and bringing peace on terms that were suitable to them, profitable to him, and which gave him leverage in the business itself.
- ____________________ is the founder of one of the world's first modern investment banks, a financial empire that will come to be known as the House of Morgan.
- Morgan's strained relationship with his father continues. And by age forty, he's looking to create an _____________ of his own.
- _______________________ has been a renowned innovator since the age of nineteen. He first made his name by perfecting the telegraph before going on to invent the stock ticker, and the phonograph.
- Richard Parsons says this of Thomas Edison, “Edison had that unique ability to sort of look at this thing, then figure out how to use it in a way that _______________________.
- A new technology is emerging that may be even more powerful. __________________ has the potential to completely change the world, and J.P. Morgan sees it as something he can own.
- Morgan is considering an investment in Thomas Edison's company, and his newly-developed ____________________.
- Edison installs a small _________________ in a shed on Morgan's property. He then runs four thousand feet of wiring through the walls and ceilings of the house, and installs nearly four hundred electric light bulbs, some of the first to ever be manufactured.
- Morgan invites many--including his father-- to see the marvel of electric lighting for the first time, knowing the demonstration will put him at the ________________ of a new industry.
- Morgan's home is the first ___________________ in the world to be lit with electricity.
- Electricity becomes a must-have for the country's elite, with one notable exception, ___________________ who has created the largest fortune in America by refining oil for kerosene lamps. He realizes electric light has the potential to replace kerosene as America's primary light source.
- Morgan and Edison get right to work, transforming a building in Lower Manhattan into the world's first __________________, a high-tech wonder filled with massive generators capable of lighting thousands of homes.
- The future of electricity wasn't just illumination. It was power, and power required __________________ over long distance.
- Edison's ___________________ becomes the model for how electricity is transmitted in the United States.
- Edison had a big think approach which said that, "We can build giant _____________________ and make it so that electricity is cheap enough for the masses.
- __________________ launches a targeted campaign against electricity, painting the new technology as dangerous, even deadly, he warns of mass electrocutions and out-of-control fires.
- Edison is ignoring what's potentially the biggest challenge to his design for electricity, and it comes from inside his own lab. His apprentice, ________.
- Tesla has developed a new form of electricity known as _______________ or __________. But Edison believes that its higher voltage is more dangerous than the direct current electric standard he's pioneered.
- Now free to pursue his own ideas, Tesla begins looking for an investor to back his AC technology. He finds one in inventor-turned-businessman ______________________.
- People who understood the science of electricity realized that Tesla was a new giant, and a significant ___________________. The electrical industry has two competing systems right now: ___________ and ______________.
EPISODE 5 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Directions: After Watching Episode 5: A New Rivalry Emerges, you will participate in a small group discussion. In your groups, you will use our "Great Answer Strategy" to discuss and answer the following questions in your Episode 5 Lesson Chronicles.
The Great Answer Strategy
Discussion Questions
- Do you think that Andrew Carnegie did the right thing when he fired Henry Frick? Why or why not?
- What were J.P. Morgan’s major areas of business? Why was he such an important figure in U.S. History?
- What role does risk play in big business? What kinds of Risk did Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Morgan take? What were the advantages and disadvantages of taking these risks?
- What part did Thomas Edison play in building America? Do you think that Edison was fair to Tesla? Why or why not?
EPISODE 5 INVESTIGATION
Directions: Use the infographics and patents below to complete the chart and answer the questions in your Episode 5 Investigation Box of your Episode 5 Chronicles.
Infographics
An infographic is a chart, diagram, or illustration as in a book or magazine, or on a website that uses pictures or graphics to present information visually. The following infographics compare and contrast Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.
The Current War Infographic
The Current War Compare and Contrast Chart
Directions: Use the infographic above to complete the compare and contrast chart.
Tesla vs. Edison Infographic
Directions: Use the infographic above to answer the questions.
- What does the Tesla vs. Edison Infographic say was Tesla’s downfall?
- Who does the Tesla vs. Edison Infographic compare Thomas Edison to? Why?
Patents
A patent is a legal document that gives an inventor credit for the invention and control over how it can be produced or used. Use the pictures of Patent 1 and Patent 2 below to answer the questions.
Patent 1
1.) Who applied for the first patent?
2.) What is the first patent for?
3.) When was the first patent granted?
2.) What is the first patent for?
3.) When was the first patent granted?
Patent 2
1.) Who applied for the second patent?
2.) What is the second patent for?
3.) When was the second patent granted?
4.) What is a patent?
2.) What is the second patent for?
3.) When was the second patent granted?
4.) What is a patent?
END OF THE EPISODE 5 LESSON
Directions: You have completed the Episode 5 Lesson of the Men Who Built America Project. Click on the icon below to go back to the Project Homepage.
