Vanderbilt in the Gilded Age

 Cape Echols

Mr. Roddy 

IHSS

24 May 2022

Vanderbilt in the Gilded Age

From the Gilded Age, arose some of America's most notorious business tycoons. Vanderbilt, a name still well-known due to its massive success in the railroad industry, gained its position from Cornelious Vanderbilt. Cornelious started his career by working for his father’s ferry business. By sixteen he was ready to start a business of his own. He borrowed $100 (about $3,000 today) from his parents to buy his own ship, a sailing vessel, named the Periauger. He ferried people from New York to Staten Island. he was able to compete with the competition by offering cheap fares. He invested the money he earned back into his business by buying more ships. As his business continue to grow she earned a reputation for being reliable and hard-working earning him the nickname “the Commodore”. His good reputation helped him secure a contract with the US government in 1812 during the war, supplying forts and ferrying soldiers around New York Harbor. All of his ships were sailing vessels but he saw that steamboats were the future. As he replaced his fleet of ships with steamboats, his horizons were expanded. Previously he was only able to ferry people in the New York and New Jersey areas, however, the speed and efficiency of steamboats opened up new routes. Throughout his career, he was known to be ruthless to his competitors. His vast holdings allowed him to undercut competitor prices, forcing other businesses to sell their companies to him, become bankrupt, or pay him large amounts of money to leave the area. It wasn't until he was in his seventies that he begin to invest in the railroad business which is what he is best known for today. In the late 1950s, he began to sell off his fleet of steamboats in order to buy railroads. Instead of making his own railroads, he bought pre-existing ones, creating a monopoly. This paid off, also due to his strategic business decisions. For example, his first purchase was the New York and Harlem railroad which wasn't considered to be valuable at the time, however, it was the only Railroad that entered downtown Manhattan, something Vanderbilt made great use of. Similar to other notable business tycoons of the Gilded Age, Vanderbilt's adaptability helped him stay ahead of the game and retain his wealth.

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