How Did Caesar Vanderbilt Change America

For the first time in the country’s short existence, the man who was most capable of leading America was not a politician. He was a self-made person who, through sheer force of will, was able to turn a poor upbringing on the docks of New Harbor into an empire. Vanderbilt grew up poor, but at age 16, he bought a small ferry boat with a loan of $100 and quickly developed a reputation as a “cutthroat” businessman. He was a tough guy and did whatever it took to get ahead of the game, and once he created the railroad empire, he became the richest man in the country. He even became so synonymous with shipping that his nickname became “the Commodore.” Over the next 40 years, Vanderbilt built the largest shipping empire in the world. Then, at the peak

He does this because he knows that the completion of the railroad will forever transform America. In the end, Vanderbilt’s decision to invest heavily in railroads paid off. The railroads allowed cheap and efficient transportation from one corner of America to another and became the big supplier of transportation in the oil industry, with over 50,000 miles of railroad tracks. Very soon, he became the richest man in America with a net worth of over $68 million, which today is $75 billion. Vanderbilt owned the only rail bridge into New York City, which was America’s busiest port. Not only was it the gateway to the country's largest port, but it also supplied the whole continent. Without it, every other railroad would be shut out of New York City. Since he was aware of this, to assert his dominance, he single-handedly erected a blockade around the nation’s largest city. This would cut off contact with the rest of the country. The market started to flood at rock-bottom prices, and because of this, he decided to buy all the stocks that were causing harm. Then, in a matter of days, he took control of the rival railroad, which allowed him to have the largest single rail company in