The United States of America is changing like neverbefore.
一场前所未有的改变正在美国发生。
In just a decade,
短短十年间，
the country has become one of the most advanced on earth,
它就成为了全世界最先进的国家之一。
and darkness no longer means the end of the day.
夜幕降临再也不是一天的终点。
Two men have driven this remaking of the country.
有两个人推进了国家的重塑步伐。
John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt
他们是约翰·D·洛克菲勒和科尼利厄斯·范德比尔特
are locked in a battle of wills.
无法不参与这场意志力的较量。
Commodore.
船队队长
Mr. Rockefeller.
洛克菲勒先生
Vanderbilt and his competitors are in drastic
范德比尔特和他的竞争对手们
search of passengers and cargo to fill the trains running on their lines.
为了装满自己线路上的火车正四处招揽乘客和货物。
In the 1870s, the country needed to be connected via railroads,
1870年代 整个国家依靠铁路来建立连接。
and what happens then is everybody who thinks they have an edge
在当时，所有认为自己在铁路这个行业有能力分一杯羹的人
in the railroad business goes out and raises money
都在游走去为此集资
and they start their own railroad.
然后开始自己的铁路事业。
And what happened then is we've seen happen many of times
我们知道，那时发生的和之后很多时候一样，
since then, is it created a huge bubble.
（在经济上）产生了巨大的泡沫。
John D. Rockefeller's oil makes up nearly forty percent of the cargo shipped on the rails.
40%的铁路运输货运量，都是来自约翰·D·洛克菲勒的石油。
But when Vanderbilt teams with
但是当范德比尔特
his biggest rival to push for a rate increase,
与其最大竞争对手联手准备抬高运输价格时，
Rockefeller takes it as a declaration of war.
洛克菲勒就认为这个他们对他的宣战。
He builds a pipeline in response,
洛克菲勒修建管道（运输）作为反击，
and begins to pull his shipments.
并从此停止了铁路运输。
And since the railroads have been drastically overbuilt,
而当时是过度建造的铁路线路
losing cargo means losing money.
丧失货物运输就意味着丧失财路。
Stocks plummet as investors run scared.
股价一落千丈，也让投资者恐惧。
When prices get out of control,
当市场价格失控时，
and smart people decide,
机智的人会想，
"Wow, this thing is a bubble, I want out",
啊，这是（虚拟的）泡沫，我不再参与，
then you can get a collapse very quickly.
那紧接着就会是（产业）大垮台。
By the time the Panic is through,
当这场恐慌过去之后，
one-third of the country's 360 railroad companies have gone bankrupt.
全国360家铁路公司有1/3都走向了破产。
Every crisis of this type,
每一次类似的危及
whether it's 2008,
无论是2008年
or 1873,
或1873年
has got the same roots.
根源都是相同的。
Namely, that it was unanticipated.
就是说，谁都没有预料到。
So a necessary condition for a crisis is nobody expects it.
没人预料到是危机的暴发是有一个必要条件的。
The crash is the worst America has seen in its short history.
在美国短暂历史中，这次危机可谓最糟糕的一次。