Cornelius Vanderbilt Research Paper

Papas 1
Argia Papas
Mrs. Benton
4/25/18
U.S History
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794, on Staten Island, New York. His parents were poor farmers and, on the side, ran boats between Staten Island and Manhattan in his “two-masted sailing vessel” referred to as a “periauger”. Cornelius worked with his father on the boat while he went to high school. As a teenager he traded cargo in his own periauger. After that, they owned a fleet of boats and learned about design.
During the Civil War, Cornelius gave away his greatest steamship “The Vanderbilt”, which was worth about a million dollars, to the Northern Navy. The boat was used to chase down Confederates. In 1813, Cornelius married a lady named Sophia Johnson, which was also his cousin, and they had 13 kids together. In 1817, Cornelius worked as a captain for a wealthy company in New York that owned steamboats for commercial use. This job provided him the opportunity to understand the steamship business. In the late 1820s, he created his own company, operating steamships and ferry lines around New York. He became a top and popular lead in the industry by starting competition of fares. Sometimes, stiff competition would pay him off a big amount …show more content…
Even though he was rich, his rich neighbors did not like him there as they thought of him as aggressive. Before transcontinental railroads, Cornelius created a service that let passengers travel from New York to California by going across Nicaragua. This way was faster than a traditional route across Panama, and faster than going around Cape Horn at the very bottom of South America, which took months. Cornelius’s line created success, making him $1 million a year. In the 1860s, Cornelius changed his attention from shipping to railroads. He controlled railways starting in Chicago going throughout New York; and created a regional railroad

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