Cornelius Vanderbilt was an enigma, an insanely complex person with conflicting personalities. He started his career opposing the idea of monopolies, a champion for individualism and free markets, but ended his career by building the very things he initially opposed, monopolies. He was a shrewd businessman, who only cared for himself, but during the civil war,he was a national patriot. He was willing to donate his ship, The Vanderbilt (approximately worth over 1 million dollars at that time, a significant amount of his fortune), to the Union Army for $1. During the civil war, he sided with the North, but after it, he married a loyal Confederate woman, and bailed out Jefferson Davis. He also donated 1 million dollars to the Central University in Tennessee, which was later named after him. For all his complex personalities, it was without a doubt that "The Commodore", a moniker he earned for his great success in the shipping industry, that he was one of the First Titan of the American Industrial Revolution. He was a strong proponent of Capitalism and gave the nation what it needed most during its great time of change, cheap and efficient transportation. This is the story of the " Robber Baron", his rise, triumphs and defeats.
Born to Cornelius van Derbilt and Phebe Hand in Staten Island, New York. His parents were farmers in the small farming village. His father also operated a small ferry, transporting produce and merchandise between Staten Island and Manhattan. Vanderbilt, was in some sense born into transportation, so it was not surprising that he later went on to become a transportation titan. From young, he worked with his father on his ferry. This gave him a better understanding of the waters when he would go on to start h...
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...artnership that would become extremely beneficial for both men. Even when he was helping Gibbons pilot his steamships, he still kept his ferrying business alive. Though deemed uneducated by many, he managed to learn much about the steam engine during his time under Gibbons. HIs knowledge of the steam engine would later allow him to cut out his competition, on water and on land. On May 5, 1815, the heirs of Chancellor Livingston gave Aaron Ogden a license to run his own steamboat between Elizabethtown and New York. Due to personal conflicts, Gibbons wanted to cripple Ogden. The only way for him to do this was to break Ogden’s monopoly by finding a way to declare that his monopoly was illegal. In the historic Gibbons v. Ogden Supreme Court case, Gibbons appealed to the Court that against Ogden’s monopoly. On March 2, 1824, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gibbons.
Earl Lloyd was born on April 3, 1928. Earl grew up with his father Theodore Lloyd and his mother Daisy Lloyd and his two older brothers Earnest and Theodore Lloyd. Earl grew up in Alexandria, Virginia. “Well, it was not a lot of fun” said Lloyd, “I could never understand as a young kid why people were allowed to trea...
Andrew Carnegie, the monopolist of the steel industry, was one of the worst of the Robber Barons. Like the others, he was full of contradictions and tried to bring peace to the world, but only caused conflicts and took away the jobs of many factory workers. Carnegie Steel, his company, was a main supplier of steel to the railroad industry. Working together, Carnegie and Vanderbilt had created an industrial machine so powerful, that nothing stood in its path. This is much similar to how Microsoft has monopolized the computer software
Hill a market engineer was known best for being the builder of the Great Northern railroad. He was the onl y entrepreneur in the ninetiinth century who did not get any goverment funds to build his rail roads. His philosophy guided him to succeed and flourish through all the depression and fierce competion, receiving no tax payers dollars. He build the most efficient railroad lines, building the line straight as possible, taking in consideration the best elevations and useing the highest quality bessemer rails. Because he took no Federal aid he formed private contracts with Indian reservations in North Dakota and Montana. Doing this let him cut fuel costs alot and made rail repairs very low. He also Promoted exports, by giving land to immigrant along the line and showed them how to farm. He did experiments on what could be grown and how to produce it in the best way and the best quality. Doing this he was able to export wheat from the farms and also increase the population of the region. Then another thing that made him strive was he only expanded as profits allowed. He moved way slower than the other railroad companys, but when he was done his finances were well in order and sound. He was able to buy out St. Paul and Pacific Rail, also he invested 6 million dollars into 2 steamships and began exporting products from america to china, India, and Japan. this increased Us exports to japan from 7.7 million dollars to 51.7 million dollars in nine years. Also supplying
Palmer v. Mulligan (1805), resembled the case of Merritt v. Parker (1795), however with a different outcome. In Palmer v. Mulligan, Palmer was suing Mulligan to damages caused by his mill. Palmer’s mill burnt down and Mulligan built a new mill up river, so Palmer had to rebuild his mill further into the river in order to get enough water flow, this caused Parker to loose logs that were floating down river and he had to hire more labor to ensue this didn’t happen. Since Mulligan’s mill was upriver trash from his mill was floating down river and hitting Palmer’s mill causing damage. The court found in favor of Mulligan saying that Palmer’s problems were his own because Mulligan was not altering the flow of the river in any way, and that the “injuries” to his mill were being caused by the natural flow of the river and it was nearly ‘slight inconveniences’. (Palmer v. Mulligan 3 Cai. R. 307; 1805 N.Y. Lexis 343). This case showed the shift in favor to competition and the idea that competition was a good thing. It also demonstrated that not all interference with property would have been compensated. The law shifted to favor competition over prior appropriation. The law shifted from “sic utere” to “salus populi” reflecting that the welfare of the people should be the supreme of the law. (Salyer). It was seen that the people
Aaron Ogden, a captain of a ship passing through New York State to trade with other states, was stopped one evening by Thomas Gibbons. He addressed Ogden to cede his ship over to New York officials. Ogden, Gibbons argued, had not a license that permitted him to sail through these particular waters. Therefore, he had a right to seize Ogden’s ship. Ogden, on the other hand, claimed he had a federally approved license to navigate any waters in the United States. Gibbons declared the supremacy of the New York Steamboat Act, while Ogden stated the Federal Coasting Law as the rule. The stage had been set for the Supreme Court.
Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in Port Richmond on Staten Island, N. Y. in 1794. Cornelius at the age of 16 had already stepped into the busniess world and he didn’t even know it. At 16 he entered into the steamboat business when he established a freight and passenger service between Stanton Island and Manhattan. Little did Cornelius know this would be one of the key ways he would make his millions upon millions. Cornelius entered the steamer business in 1818, and bought his first steamship in 1829. Cornelius was not a laid back guy nothing was ever good enough for him. If you had and Cornelius Vanderbilt wanted it there wasn’t much you could do to keep him from getting it. This is the kind of attitude that put him on top of the world. After establishing his steamboat Vanderbilt became a very vigorous competitor, lowering his rates while also making his ships top of the line. Vanderbilt the entrepuner himself soon controlled must of the Hudson River. After awhile his fellow competitors in the steamboat business paid him to take some of his traffic elsewhere so that he wouldn’t get all the work. By 1846 Vanderbilt was a very wealthy man and with wealth he learned cam power. He became widely know as the Commodore Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt sold his steamboats in 1862 and began buying railroad stocks. In a mere 5 years Vanderbilt used his power to uphold most of the New York Central Railroad system. Vanderbilt like in his steamboats strived to be the best in the railroads now. Vanderbilt established many railway systems during his railroad career maybe his most famous was that of the one that connected New York and Chicago in a direct rail route in 1873. At the time of Vanderbilt’s death in 1877 he was worth over 100 million dollars the most at that time.
He was already in his later years by the time the Gilded Age rolled around and didn't even get to see the uprising of some of the greatest leaders of the time. The railroad companies took advantage of their necessity by constantly overcharging customers, especially farmers. This led to one of the first labor unions in the United States, an organization known as the Grange.... ... middle of paper ...
As mentioned, it is accurate to allot the title of “robber baron” to the industrial leaders of the time in that they employed various, considerably unethical, methods in order to obtain untold riches. Such a notion is quite evident in William H. Vanderbilt’s own words, that, “[t]he railroads are not run for the benefit of the ‘dear public’-that cry is all nonsense they are built by men who invest their money”. (Document A) Vanderbilt even goes so far as to say something such as, “[t]he public be damned”, so to demonstrate he does not care for the opinion and state of the public, but rather only of his own and of his fellow financiers. Such statements prove that Vanderbilt sought to further his wealth, whether or not ...
In present time, Vincent van Gogh is probably the most widely known and highly appreciated person of postimpressionism. During his brief lifetime, Vincent’s work went almost unknown to this world. His work now hangs in countless museums throughout the world and is considered priceless. His work became an important bridge between the 19th and 20th centuries.
Cornelius Vanderbilt also known as Commodore Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794 and died on January 4, 1877. Vanderbilt was one of the most powerful man during his time and one the father of industry. He played a major role in the late 19th century. He was born to a poor family and he quit school at eleven. At age sixteen he made a deal with his mother to plow eight acres for $1,300 and with that money he purchased a sail boat. With his sail boat Vanderbilt he began a transferring freight carrying up to four people every day. Then he got contracted by the government to transport military supplies. As he grew older he went onto the steamship business earning the name commodore. When the Transcontinental Railroad was made he invested in railroads
James K. Polk once said, “No president who performs his duties faithfully and conscientiously can have any leisure.” According to the article titled, “James K. Polk,” Polk was born in North Carolina, and graduated from the University of North Carolina in which he studied to become a successful attorney. Polk had a successful political career in which he held high ranks of authority in the Tennessee and federal government. He was also known as “Young Hickory” referencing his mentor and friend Andrew Jackson. He came into office at the age of 49 in 1845 in which his accomplishments would help make up the big picture known as America. James K. Polk was the determined and strong, eleventh president of the United States, who carried out all of his goals he set forth during his presidency, which included the expansion of the United States to the west, the settlement of the Oregon boundary, and the restore the Independent Treasury.
middle of paper ... ... as farmers became more conscious of prices rising to transport their goods, they were forced to find other means of transportation to distribute their goods. Even though these men attempted to build a stable foundation for America to grow on, their negative aspects dramatically outweighed the positive. Even though Andrew Carnegie donated his fortunes to charity, he only acquired the money through unjustifiable actions. As these industrialists continued to monopolize companies through illegal actions, plutocracy- government controlled by the wealthy, took control of the Constitution.
Gibbons had received his permit from the federal government. The New York court sided with Ogden and ordered Gibbons to stop operating his steamships. Gibbons then proceeded to take this to the Supreme Court. John Marshall sided with Gibbons and said that New York’s grant to Ogden violated the federal licensing act of 1793 and for the first time the commerce clause was interpreted. It was concluded that the government had the power to regulate this because of the commerce clause.
...acific Railway Co. v. Botsford - 141 U.S. 250 (1891). Retrieved from Justia U.S. Supreme Court: http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/141/250/case.html
Vincent van Gogh was a poor artist in 19th century Europe that was constantly tortured by psychiatric issues. Van Gogh was born in Zundert, Netherlands on March 30, 1853. His father was a pastor and raised him with a very religious lifestyle and he originally set out to be a pastor himself. He was fired from his preaching job because of his intensity and fierceness and decided to be an artist. His many disorders eventually got the better of him and he was admitted to the St. Remy mental institution where he did the much of his art. After his release in May of 1890, van Gogh fell into deep depression and eventually committed suicide in July of that year. In my opinion van Gogh’s importance was shown through his different use of color that was looked down upon by the critics of the time but led to a new style of Post-Impressionism at the end of the Impressionistic era. Also, his large amounts of paintings, over 2,100, portray a large amount of subjects which virtually anyone can relate to. Finally, his importance is verified in the sheer price of his paintings, the most expensive, Portrait of Dr. Gatchet, was sold for 82 million dollars.