Period Cornelius Vanderbilt was born around May 27, 1794 around the area of Port Richmond on Staten Island, New York. The business that he is most known for is the becoming the railroad tycoon that has help shaped society today. At a young age of 11 he dropped out of school to work for his father. Around the time he was young he gained interest in boats and began to become interested in the shipping business and started to study most aspects of the industry. When he was at the age of 16 he had made about $100 for landscaping on his father’s land and through what he had received he had purchased a sail boat and started a “passenger ferry business”1 giving people rides he would usually and/or “routinely undercut his competition”2. Around the …show more content…
“After a year in the railroad industry Vanderbilt reportedly made 25 million.”7 Sometime after he expanded his the company to the westward side of the U.S gaining Michigan southern railway, the lake shore, and the Canada railway. How Cornelius Vanderbilt’s product influenced society is cause the railroad is one of the methods of transportation not the most efficient way of traveling anymore but a big number of people use it all over the world. Cornelius Vanderbilt was very successful at what he did because he was ruthless, smart, and new how to run his company. Also because at the time of his death he was worth about or more than “100 million dollars”8. Today his product is still highly used today by millions and millions of people day in and out. Why it still exists is because people use the train as transportation whether it is going home, to work, to school, people won’t always have cars to use or afford taking airlines. There are a few one or two interesting facts about Vanderbilt is that the railroad “was built by a majority of Chinese, Irish, and Italian.” 9 Also that “Vanderbilt had married his cousin France Armstrong but dealt with some controversy.”
Cornelius Vanderbilt was a captain of industry. He came from a poor family and turned into a captain of industry controlling 85% of rail road and inspiring others to follow suit. He did many great things and not so great. Went from making a steamboat ferry to Grand Central Station. By the end of his life he had more than $100 million dollars.
To urban middle-class Americans of the late 19th century, nothing symbolized the progress of the American civilization quite as much as the railroad. Not only had the great surge in railroad construction after the Civil War helped to create a modern market economy, but the iron horse itself seemed to embody the energy, force, and technology of the new order. In fact, the fanning out of railroads from urban centers was an integral part of the modernizing process, tying the natural and human resources of rural areas to the industrializing core.
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
Another example of him being a robber baron is because of how he ran his railroad. His disregard for worker safety was very poor. The poor railroad working conditions made for underpaid workers and safety hazards for everyone working for him. It would cost him money to provide safety measures and precautions in the railways. This is how he treated his workers and this shows how greedy and conservative he was with his money. His workers deserved at least a little more safety than what he was providing. His cheap ways were very detrimental to his workers in those conditions. This is a clear example of how he had no consideration for his employers and installed no safety precautions.
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 on the railroads. 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. Another questionable hard working man is that of John Davison Rockefeller.
Andrew Carnegie was born into a middle class family, he was born November 25, 1835 in Scotland, and died August 11,1919. When Andrew Carnegie was just a child his country was going through economic problems. The economic problems caused many people to find jobs, and which affected his father. They had to make a decision to move to the united states,he was 12 years when he start to work in a cotton factory as a bobbin boy. When Andrew Carnegie was 14 he became a messenger for the telegraph, he was a such a good messenger that he became Thomas Scott personal secretary, and telegraph in 1855. In document A, you can read about him, when he was young.
Thomas Jefferson has an amazing role in our lives today from the hard work and time he spent to make an easier future for all of us. There are days that some of us could not thrive as the people we are without the appliances he made to make challenging tasks easier for us. Some people look up to him because he never stopped doing great things and never stopped showing unselfishness. Thomas Jefferson revolutionized the world of the 18th century and centuries to come. Thomas Jefferson was one of the most influential people of the 18th century because he was one of the founding fathers of America, he was the founder of the University of Virginia, and he was the creator of many life changing inventions, which drastically changed the world.
George M. Pullman is best remembered for his contributions to the railroad industry through the invention of his Pullman Cars. The cars sold well and the railroad industry flourished with this new invention. Although the success attached to his name, not many people know the real truth behind this robber baron. His greed for money took him to extreme measures as his workers were seriously mistreated and put under strict
The want for wealth saturates everyone’s mind at one point or another. Almost everyone dreams of having the large mansion near the beach, the multiple cars, etc., but this money does not just come, it either has to be inherited or earned. During the 1800s, most wealth was inherited, but there were a few self-made men that worked their way from the bottom to the top in order to become wealthy. One man in particular influenced wealthy men to come like Andrew Carnegie and Rockefeller. He was able to begin many of the ideas brought about during the Gilded Age because not only was he a major influence in society, but he greatly changed the economy and the industries he was involved in during that time. Lastly, he modernized commerce for businessmen to come. Cornelius Vanderbilt has become one of the most famous names in American history because of the everlasting positive changes he introduced to the country. Cornelius Vanderbilt was an inspiration for future wealthy personas of the Gilded Age because he fought to limit competition in the developing railroad and steamboat industries; his tactics in these industries lead him to great wealth, which helped him wield enormous power and influence over the American economy and politics.
Railroads were one of the most used transportation during the Gilded Age, making traveling the United States quicker. This allowed shipping products to other states easier, while keeping the consumers happy. Originally, shipping steel, or other heavy equipment was near impossible until railroads/train could carry mass tons of products.
Although not a natural resource, railroads were considered one of the key factors in almost every widespread industry. It allowed companies to quickly send products across the entire nation without using expensive and time-consuming caravans or wagons. Cornelius Vanderbilt was a prominent leader in the railroad industry at this 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 unio...
One of the most important achievements of the Gilded Age was the creation of a network of railroads including the transcontinental railroad, which connected the United States from New York to California, facilitating transportation across the continent. During the Gilded Age the length of all the railroads combined increased threefold ("Second Industrial Revolution"). This was significant not only because it decreased travel time from the eastern to western parts of the U.S and vice versa down from months to weeks and allowed people to settle the central United States, but also opened new areas for commercial farming and gave an economic boost to steel...
Firstly in document one, it shows an interview with William H. Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt explains that the railroads are for the benefit of the stockholders and not for the benefit of the consumer. He also says “We only run it because we are forced to do so by the action of the Pennsylvania road. It doesn’t pay expenses. We would abandon it if it was not for our competitor keeping its train on.” like it is a pain for his business to do something that is not making any money. He even says that “the public be damned. What does the public care for the railroads except to get as much out of them for as small consideration as possible?” going even further and saying that the public does not care about his product. In document three which is an article
Seavoy, Ronald E. "Railroads." An Economic History of the United States: From 1607 to the Present. New York: Routledge, 2006. 188-200. Print.
Another way he challenged democracy was by buying off legislature and controlling how they voted. Vanderbilt’s enormous fortune gave him great power; however, one of the Commodore’s greatest attributes was his ability to manipulate others into doing what he wanted them to do to further his own agenda. An example of Vanderbilt’s wit is his ability to plan schemes out years in advance. He would set traps and patiently wait for others to fall into them then he would swoop in and takeover. Charles Francis Adams, Jr. described Vanderbilt by saying he “has sought to make himself a dictator in modern civilization… As trade now dominates the world, and the railways dominate trade, his object has been to make himself the virtual master of all by making himself absolute lord of the railways.” No amount of power was ever enough for