Cornelius Vanderbilt Essay - 2176 Words

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†¦show more content†¦Vanderbilt was the first businessman in America to try to monopolize other businesses by creating lower prices. This enabled him to become wealthy because the lower his prices went the more customers he gained. Once oth er companies found that they could also lower their prices, it added more competition for Vanderbilt, so he had to begin to create trusts. During the Gold Rush in California, many people went by sea to go from the East Coast to the West Coast. At the time Vanderbilt had the lowest prices and he was putting many other steamboat companies out of business; so â€Å"The Steamboat Association threw in the towel and bought him out. For $100,000 and an annual payment of $5,000 for ten years, Vanderbilt agreed to withdraw from the Hudson River market.†2 By making other steamboat companies pay him rent to stay out of the industry, he was still becoming extremely wealthy without having to do any work. Even though Vanderbilt was extremely wealthy, he was very cautions with his money and only spent it when he knew something was a strong investment that would get him more powerful. During the Gold Rush, the other steamboat industries used the Panama Canal in order to get toShow MoreRelate dCornelius Vanderbilt is one of the five tycoons of America. He was able to use both wit and his700 Words   |  3 PagesCornelius Vanderbilt is one of the five tycoons of America. He was able to use both wit and his entrepreneurial skills in order to create a very successful career and legacy. Starting off from the very beginning, young Vanderbilt was able to start his own business. At the age of sixteen, Vanderbilt decided to start his own ferry service with the loan he received by working through his Mother. With the one hundred he was able to obtain, by clearing and planting eight-acre field, Vanderbilt purchasedRead MoreThe Demise Of Cornelius Vanderbilt1596 Words   |  7 PagesCornelius Vanderbilt was certainly a very important contributor to his field. Some people would even argue that he, to a certain extent, invented his field. This is undoubtedly the case as the majority of today’s businessmen follow his example and act in ways that he invented by carrying out his actions. In addition, Vanderbilt invested his fortune in railroads. Without railroads, today’s society would not only be vastly different, but it could also possibly be nonexistent. This is due to Vanderbilt’sRead MoreEssay about Big Business In The Gilded Age1028 Words   |  5 Pagesa 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 didnt even get to see the uprising of some of the greatest leaders of the time. The railroad companiesRead MoreThe men who built America is a series that portrays the life some of the richest men in America’s600 Words   |  3 Pagesinto two halves. Despite that division the country was in an age of advancement. The people of these times are supposed to be the ones who built our nation’s culture. That is when Cornelius Vanderbilt’s life came into this movie. Vanderbilt was a tough guy who was always in fights and had a love for winning. Vanderbilt used his comp etitive brain to his advantage to make himself one of the richest men in America. It all started when he was a child selling candies and baked goods to help support hisRead MoreThe Myth Of Robber Barons By Burton W. Folsom1141 Words   |  5 Pagessuccess in those days was lower costs, through attention to detail, hands on management, improved technology to produce a higher quality product, and price reductions to increase markets. It talks about how the great entrepreneurs of the 19th century, Vanderbilt, Hill, Rockefeller, Mellon, Schwab, and Scranton, made their fortunes by passing around their improved efficiency to consumers, thereby widening the market. Unfortunately, most historians continue to view the rise of big business in America as aRead MoreEssay Robber Barons in America1193 Words   |  5 Pagesfirst like to tell you about Cornelius Vanderbilt. 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 businessRead MoreThe Rise Of The Industrial Revolution1007 Words   |  5 Pages Analytical Paper In the late 1800s, with the rise of the industrial revolution, there were business titans make millions and curating monopoly. These men were know as Robber Barons, like Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and John D, Rockefeller. These men were buying up every business that had any relationship with their companies in order to corner the market and create monopolies. These companies had no restrictions on the business practices and business acquisitions during thisRead MoreThe Myth Of The Robber Barons2539 Words   |  11 Pagesbusiness life of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt started his steamboat industry life big as he was given the task of breaking up a strict monopoly that had taken over all of the boat traffic in New York for the past thirty years. Right from the start Vanderbilt used illegal means of operating business by avoiding the law to ship passengers between New Jersey and New York, but he was charging lower rates. Folsom uses a passage on just the 2nd page of the book to show that â€Å"A jubilant Vanderbilt was greetedRead MoreAnalysis Of The Myth Of Robber Barons1347 Words   |  6 Pagestaking advantage of their workers to succeed. But in The Myth of the Robber Barons by Burton W. Folsom, he argues against these claims, and he takes a deeper look into some of America’s richest and most successful men. By specifically looking at Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, James J. Hill, the Scranton family and many more, Folsom believed that these so-called robber barons were actually entrepreneurs with a drive to succeed, leading to an improvement in American lives. In his first argumentRead MoreThe Wealth and Succes of William Vanderbilt Essay590 Words   |  3 PagesWilliam Vanderbilt was an American businessman whose wealth was derived from the thriving railroad industry of the late nineteenth century. He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1821 and died at age 64 on December 8, 1885. During this time, he led the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, the Canada Southern Railway, and the Michigan Central Railroad. He took over as president for these organizations for his father. His father, Cornelius Vanderbilt, brought the railroad business to his