CNN'S MILLENNIUM SERIES: THE 19TH CENTURY, THE CENTURY OF THE MACHINE {THE NINETEENTH CENTURY} {EPISODE 9} (TV)
Summary
One in this ten-part miniseries documenting historical events and developments around the world in the individual centuries of the past millennium. This episode focuses on the 19th century. In Britain, the power of steam revolutionized everyday life. Engineers “became heroes,” including Richard Trevithick, who built the first full-scale steam locomotive, although the steam engine was first successful on water: in 1807, the first successful paddle steamer, the Clermont, was launched in America. Art and music soon reflected the impact of these new inventions, including the paintings of watercolorist Charles Henry Turner and the writings of Charles Dickens. Undersea communication across great distances also became possible through electricity, and long tunnels, like the ones designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, helped to connect faraway locations by train, although the construction of same was often perilous. As ships no longer had to depend on winds, overseas migration increased significantly, and Greenwich, England became the “zero meridian” for time, with the rest of the world dividing into relative time zones. Thomas Cook founded the world’s first travel agency, one of the world’s first multinational companies. Elsewhere, the English-born Charles Darwin traveled to the Galapagos Islands and began studying how the creatures who lived there had adapted to their surroundings over time. He speculated that humans had done the same, and began developing his theory of evolution. The shock of his young daughter’s death caused him to conclude that life was a harsh struggle for survival, and that only those who developed certain characteristics could thrive. He suppressed his theory for twenty years, however, and when he finally published “The Origin of Species” in 1859, it was met with both great interest and outrage, as it directly contradicted the creation story found in the Bible. The theory was then “hijacked by imperialists” who used the “survival of the fittest” idea to legitimize warfare and domination, particularly in areas of Africa. Similarly, in North America, so-called cowboys were attempting to take over much of the West, only to find that it was already populated by native people. Confident in their “manifest destiny,” however, the settlers waged war on the natives, led by General George Custer, who defended the newly-built trains from attackers, and using the guns manufactured by the Winchester company. William Cody, known as “Buffalo Bill,” led the movement in killing the animals for food, although it soon became an activity of sport, and the decimation of the buffalo population greatly angered the natives, who relied on them for many different uses. The “cowboys” were soundly defeated at the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn, also called “Custer’s Last Stand,” but eventually the natives were subjugated and pushed onto smaller and smaller reservations. Some were recruited into Buffalo Bill’s traveling “Wild West” show, recreating their own domination as entertainment. China was still confident of its superiority, boasting a population of 400 million and a healthy economy, based on the trade of tea. A merchant named Howqua became one of the richest men in the world through the business. However, Britain discovered opium in India and began trading it to the Chinese for tea, and the poisonous drug soon took hold of the country and incapacitated its users. The emperor dispatched an official to halt the trade, and he appealed to Queen Victoria, explaining the dangers of the drug. When this failed, they destroyed the product outright, leading to an “unjust” war between the nations. Britain was victorious, and demanded 21 million ounces of silver and the use of five major Chinese ports. China was “invaded by western ways,” although in present day, it is reclaiming much of its own culture. In Europe, steam-powered machines were overtaking manual labor, and the factories threatened dangerous conditions for the workers, leading to the formation of trade unions to protect their rights. Henry Bessemer invented an inexpensive process for mass-producing steel, and soon technology began affecting political relations all over the world: in many wars, including the American Civil War and battles in Japan, whichever side possessed more industrial strength was typically the victor. Machines, including those for domestic tasks, like washing, created great social change, such as a growth in advertisement, newspapers and the automobile industry. In 1898, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière made one of the world’s first films of a train pulling into a station, representing the great technological advances of the age. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CNN
- DATE: December 5, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:90865
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Pat Mitchell Collection, The; History
- SERIES RUN: CNN - TV, 1999
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Pat Mitchell … Executive Producer
- Jeremy Isaacs … Executive Producer
- Jody Gottlieb … Coordinating Producer
- Vivian Schiller … Senior Producer
- Mike Dibb … Producer, Director
- Gillian Widdicombe … Associate Producer
- Peter Sommer … Assistant Producer
- Fiona Garlick … Assistant Producer
- Xiaosong Atiyah … Assistant Producer
- Janina Stamps … Line Producer
- Emma De'Ath … Series Producer
- Neil Cameron … Series Producer
- Felipe Fernández-Armesto … Based on the book by
- Richard Blackford … Music by
- Ben Kingsley … Narrator
- Henry Bessemer
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel
- William Cody
- Thomas Cook
- George Custer
- Charles Darwin
- Charles Dickens
- Howqua
- Auguste Lumière
- Louis Lumière
- Richard Trevithick
- Charles Henry Turner
- Queen Victoria