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The Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

The Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt. By: Alicia Cash. Early Life and Business. Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in Staten Island, New York on May 27,1794 to a poor family. By age 11, he had quit school in order to work in his fathers boating business.

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The Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

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  1. The Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt By: Alicia Cash

  2. Early Life and Business • Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in Staten Island, New York on May 27,1794 to a poor family. • By age 11, he had quit school in order to work in his fathers boating business. • At 16, he borrowed a hundred dollars from his mother to start is first business. Shipping customers from New York City to Staten Island proved to be profitable work and soon he paid his loan back plus an extra 1,000 dollars. • Despite his crude manners, Vanderbilt was a hard worker and he earned a reputation for honesty by charging reasonable prices.

  3. Early Life and Business (continued). • When the war of 1812 came around, Vanderbilt was already on his way to riches. The government contracted him to try his hand in coastal trade. Soon he built the largest schooner in the Hudson River. • In 1818, he sold his interests in trading and began to look into the steamboat business. ^ This is an oil painting of Vanderbilt’s schoonerpaintedby James and John Bard.

  4. Big Business • Vanderbilt’s first venture into big business was illegally competing against Robert Fulton’s monopoly. Hired by Thomas Gibbons in 1818, the young entrepreneur was instructed to defy the state sanctioned monopoly by racing steamboats in New York. • After the Gibbons v. Ogden case (1824) put an end to Fulton’s monopoly and the steamboat industry began to take off, Vanderbilt left Gibbons and soon became one of the market leaders despite constant government promoted competition.

  5. Big Business (cont.) • Over time the steamboat business made Vanderbilt a millionaire. His competitive nature, increased his wealth, when the gold rush began and he began challenging the Pacific Steam Ship company. However, after a bad ending with the Nicaraguan government he sold his interests to a new company. • However, as he approached old age he made one more potentially profitable venture. Imagining that railroads were the future, Vanderbilt first bought the New York and Harlem Railroad. • However, soon he had purchased both the Hudson River Railroad and Central Railroad.

  6. Overview Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt. • Vanderbilt is best known for his steam boating and railroading businesses in the New York/Harlem area. • He was not known for being a dedicated philanthropist, he greatest contribution was donating one million dollars to Vanderbilt University. • He also was not known for corruption. While he was a ruthless business man, he maintained an honest reputation.

  7. Political Cartoons • This cartoon depicts Vanderbilt’s struggle against Daniel Drew to gain control on the Eerie Railroad. After Acquiring the New York and Harlem Railroad and the Hudson Railroad. Vanderbilt set his sights on the Eerie. However, his long time competitor Drew, attempted to keep the Erie from his reach. After losing one to two million dollars, Vanderbilt forgot about the Erie.

  8. Works Cited • " Cornelius Vanderbilt." Biography.com 02 Feb 2012, <http://www.biography.com/people/cornelius-vanderbilt-9515195> • "Corneilius Vanderbilt." Business Biography. University of St. Francis. Web. 02 Feb. 2012. <http://www.stfrancis.edu/content/ba/ghkickul/stuwebs/bbios/biograph/vanderbi.htm>. • "Cornelius Vanderbilt." New World Encyclopedia. 4 Apr 2008. 2 Feb 2012. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Cornelius_Vanderbilt?oldid=688107>. • Shapiro, Jason, and Kendal Weedling. "Group 5." GildedAgePeriod89. Wikispaces.com, n. d. Web. 2 Feb. 2012. <https://gildedageperiod89.wikispaces.com/Group 5>. • Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic. 12th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001. • LasDiLorenzo, Thomas. "The Truth about the "Rober Barons"." How Capitalism Saved America. 7 (2003): n. page. Print.

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