Length: 50 minutes

Age appropriateness: This documentary, part of the History Channel's "Empires of Industry" series, is not officially rated in the United States. It is safe for students of all ages to watch. The content is most appropriate for students in grades 7 through 12. Scroll down for discussion and review questions, as well as a list of names and vocabulary terms.

Accuracy: The information contained in this brief video is highly accurate. There are numerous interviews with leading historians as well as with museum personnel (on-site). Complex processes and events are explained in ways that students can easily understand. This documentary encompasses the entire history of the steel industry in the United States, from colonial times to the present day.

My biggest criticism is that this film, apart from a brief segment on the Homestead Strike, somewhat glosses over the rise of labor unions in the late 1800s. Unsafe working conditions, low wages, etc., are hardly mentioned at all. Monopolies are likewise glossed over. If this is the only video your kids watch about the American Industrial Revolution, they will be left with a very one-sided point-of-view.

"Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel" is part of the "Empires of Industry" television series that ran on the History Channel in the 1990s. This video is divided into five sections: (1) Iron Works, (2) Genius, (3) Strife, (4) Merging, and (5) Rebirth.