Write a 1-2 paragraphs describing how either Walt Disney or Henry Flager made a significant contribution to Florida and United States history. In your response, explain why this individual's contribution was significant using the information from below 1. Henry Morrison Flagler
(1830-1913)

Ask anyone enlightened by history to name the "Father of Florida" and bets are safe they will answer Henry Morrison Flagler.

A 19th-century robber baron who poured his imagination, vision and money into creating an empire from St. Augustine to Key West, Flagler heads Sunshine's list as the most influential Floridian since statehood.

As the co-founder with John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil of Ohio, Flagler brought his substantial clout to a sleepy Southern state in the late 1800s and proceeded to launch it into an incredible future.

Displeased with the railroad service he found when he first visited in 1878, Flagler took over the rails himself and extended his Florida East Coast Railway all the way to the tip of the peninsula. He then did the impossible, stretching the limits of early-20th-century technology to build "the railroad that went to sea," all the way to the island city of Key West.

The man's game plan was simple and straightforward. As he extended his railroad farther and farther south, he spread luxury hotels and amenities along the way to give wealthy travelers a reason to use his railroad in the winter. To keep his trains busy the rest of the year, he encouraged the development of farm towns, which would need to ship their produce north.

When he reached the waters of Lake Worth he built the Royal Poinciana Hotel on the east side of the lake and transformed the small oceanfront community of Palm Beach into a world-famous winter resort.

When he reached the settlements on the west side of Biscayne Bay, he built a city and a port, the beginnings of what is today Miami.

Until his death in 1913, Henry Flagler may have ruled his domain like a colonizing emperor, but during his reign he created the foundation on which rests the entire east coast of Florida.

Walt Disney
(1901-1966)

Although "Uncle Walt" never lived to see the Disney World that he helped plan, the credit for the most popular theme park in the world and its enduring impact on Florida must go to him.

When Disney began planning the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT early in the 1960s, the site consisted of 30,000 acres of swampland and cow pasture stuck out in the middle of nowhere between Orlando and Kissimmee. The park opened in 1971, and for better or worse, it has forever changed Central Florida. The population of Orlando and Orange County has doubled in 20 years.

Disney World and surrounding spinoff businesses have reaped untold billions from the 25 million visitors who come each year from around the country to see the realization of Walt's dreams. And what of the additional 7 million European visitors each year? How many of them take home a perception of Florida as Mainstreet, U. S.A.?

Be it ever so skewed from reality, Walt's vision, and his impact, goes on. Today, Disney officials are planning a $2-billion expansion that will include an animal theme park, a water park, a cruise-ship line and three new hotels by the year 2000. In a state where tourism is king, Walt should certainly be credited with the title of king.