Скачать или смотреть America’s First Billionaire: The Forgotten Era That Shaped the Gilded Age

In the late 19th century, America entered an age of iron, smoke, and unchecked ambition.
This documentary explores the forgotten industrial era that produced America’s first billionaire, long before the term itself existed.
Drawing from 1880s newspapers, factory records, labor reports, census data, and contemporary historical accounts, this film examines how vast fortunes were built through railroads, steel mills, and factories — and at what human cost.
Behind the rapid expansion of American industry were dangerous working conditions, frequent injuries, silent suffering, and institutional neglect. While immense wealth accumulated at the top, workers endured long hours, unsafe machinery, and physical exhaustion in environments rarely recorded with honesty.
This is not a story of glamour or celebration.
It is a restrained historical examination of how the foundations of the Gilded Age were laid — through labor, imbalance, and silence.
The documentary avoids modern interpretation and dramatization, relying strictly on 19th-century evidence and accepted historical scholarship to reconstruct a dark chapter of American economic history.
DISCLAIMER
This documentary is intended for educational and historical purposes only.
All events, conditions, and interpretations presented are based on documented 19th-century sources, including archived newspapers, industrial records, and historical research. Where records are incomplete, cautious language is used.
Some descriptions may reference workplace injuries, unsafe labor conditions, and social inequality, which may be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
No modern perspectives, reenactments, or fictional elements have been added.