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Jay Gould And Robber Barons

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In the list of the worst CEOs of all time (according to Conde Nast Portfolio), Jay Gould came in at number eight. He would be worth $71 billion dollars today and was one of the the worst robber barons in the 1800s. Jay Gould was born on May 27, 1836, in Roxbury, New York to Mary and John Gould. Jay Gould was an only child. Jay went to school at the Hobart Academy in New York, but he dropped out at the age of 16. He continued to study surveying and mathematics. While at the Hobart Academy, the principal helped him get a job as a bookkeeper for a blacksmith. In 1856, by the age of 20, he had gone into partnership with Zadock Pratt to build a tanning business in Pennsylvania. While Jay Gould is not well known today, he is the ninth richest …show more content…

The Erie Railroad War was a struggle to control the railroad between Jay Gould, his business partner Daniel Drew, and James Fisk, versus Cornelius Vanderbilt. The War between when the men began, when Cornelius Vanderbilt tried to gain control of the Erie Railroad, Cornelius the owner of the New York Central Railroad was hoping to add this to his collection of railroads he owned, even when the Erie had not been making a profit at the time. In 1867 Drew was the owner of the railroad,Drew, Fisk and Gould started to “water-down” the stock that Vanderbilt bought, making it three times what it would have cost originally. The unsuspecting Vanderbilt eventually got enraged and contacted a New York judge. The Erie war ended when Drew and vanderbilt came to a mutual deal. Drew had then advised Gould, and fisk to move along, but Gould, and fisk were able to kick out Drew, and begin running the railroad themselves. drew was pushed into semi-retirement, and vanderbilt still remained the richest man in America at the time. The Erie, a symbol of moving west crippled by enormous debt, and would not become profitable for more than 70 years. Another event that made Jay famous was …show more content…

back in the mid 1800s was the Native Americans. Since Jay Gould owned most of the railroads that were going West, and these railroads went through Indian lands and brought more people out to the West, I would expect that he had a somewhat shaky relationship with the Native American population. However, I did not read anything specifically about how they related to each

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Later on, Vanderbilt discovered that the real transportation was taking place on railroads, so he decided to sell all of his ships and invest all that he had into the railroad business. By becoming the undisputed king of the railroads, Vanderbilt became the richest man in America after the war. He was worth 68 million dollars, equivalent to 75 billion dollars today. However, as any good business has to face, there were some difficult

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The transcontinental railroad system developed after the Civil War in 1869; this was at the time of the Gilded Age. The reason why the railroads were industrialized, was to revolutionize and expanded the economic growth throughout the United States. Thus, allowing commercial goods to be delivered for a lower rate, as well as, transporting people across the country from coast to coast. During this era, Jay Gould became a railroad mogul, by monopolizing the railroads. As stated in the textbook, 'He operated in the stock market like a shark".

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In the 18th and 19th centuries, the captains of industry, more popularly known as robber barons, controlled big businesses, but through unethical, cut-throat ways. Robber barons were the wealthy citizens who owned successful businesses which used tactics that kept them on top, and there competitors below them. These tactics included, trusts, pools, and holding companies, which were all forms of monopolies. There were many individuals who qualified as a robber baron, but three of the most well known are Andrew Carnegie, John Davidson Rockefeller, and John Pierpont Morgan.

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Jay Gould and Jim Fisk attempted to corner the nation’s gold market on September 24th 1869. They were president and vice president of the Erie Railroad, and they earned the reputation as two of Wall Street’s most ruthless financial masterminds. Their rap sheets included everything from issuing fraudulent stock to bribing politicians and judges, and they had a lucrative partnership with Tammany Hall power player Willian “Boss” Tweed. Jay Gould was an expert at devising new ways to game the system and he was once named the “Mephitopheles of Wall Street” because of his ability to line his own pockets. In 1869 Gould “spun a web” that was aimed at conquering the gold market.

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When Cornelius Vanderbilt died he left his $100 million fortune to his son William Vanderbilt and they both had the same attitude. During the Gilded Age these big business and their owners were thought of as being Robber Barons or Captains of Industry. The poor working conditions that were provided, the corruption they led in government, and their use of child labor shows that they were Robber Barons. Children were used in labor to work a lot and most days of the week. Kids as young as 5 often worked as much as 12 to 14 hours a day for barely any pay.

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Robber barons, specifically Andrew Carnegie, an industrialist and John D. Rockefeller, a philanthropist, were the chosen, elite members of society according to the doctrine of Social Darwinism. Darwinism is when evolution occurs and the strongest organisms of an ecosystem survive and reproduce to outnumber the weaker, less fit organisms of an ecosystem. Similarly Social Darwinism follows the same concept, but in a capitalist sense of thought. Those who were able to exploit the Gilded Age’s laissez faire economy to their own benefit, like the robber barons Andrew Carnegie of Carnegie Steel and J. D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil, were the fittest members of society because they were able to survive in the grueling and ruthless free economy. By usurping all of the fresh yet unfit immigrants that were flowing into the States due to the rise of urbanization, these two men integrated these easily-manipulated people into their factories to augment their profits.

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The economy grew because the costs were lower and the product was getting shipped faster (H., 2010). From the book “ The first Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt”, written by T.J. Styles, it says: “This was a major transformation of the railroad network, which previously had been fragmented into numerous short railroads, each with its own procedures, timetables, and rolling stock. The creation of a coherent system spanning several states lowered costs, increased efficiency, and sped up travel and shipment times.” He knew that he had complete power over some of the major railroads in America and he was very smart with how he used that power and knowledge (H.2010). He demanded respect from everyone (H.2010).

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While the first railroad was created 20 years prior to Vanderbilt’s efforts, Vanderbilt first entered the steamboat industry. Railroads, which posed a threat to commerce surrounding the Erie Canal, brought Vanderbilt to realize how vital the railroads could be due to their effectiveness and ability to travel for prolonged periods. With those advantages in mind, Vanderbilt decided to enter the railroad industry by investing in and obtaining railroad companies of his own, intending to expand the railroads into more efficient systems. Although Vanderbilt owned various railroads in locations such as New York and Harlem, his most prominent step forward occurred when he gained control of the New York Central Railroad in 1867, allowing him to establish himself as a dominant figure in the railroad industry and expand his power throughout the United States to further the development of the American transportation

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George Gould’s Life in the Nineteen Century George Gould was born in New York, City, in February 6, 1864. His father was Jay Gould; he was a farmer, working in his small business as a salesperson. His mother was Helen Miller Gould. George was the eldest son of Jay Gould and he grew up on a farm. He was not earned a higher education; however, he graduated from high school.

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Bill Gates was a wealthy man who might have been greedy and only in for the money. He was also a generous man who employed a lot of people and donated $40 million. Most revered critics believe that Cornelius Vanderbilt was a Robber Baron. For example, he was never known to engage in philanthropic activities

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