Vanderbilt Research Paper

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. You may ask what does that mean. Those three are the modern-day leaders in modes of transportation. In the 1800’s the ship was the leader in transportation of goods and people. At the peak of the market in the mid 1800’s, there was one business man the prevailed over others, Cornelius Vanderbilt. Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794 in Staten Island, New York; into a modest family, his father was a ferry man and a farmer. From a very early age he had wanted to become wealthy, and was very controlling. "Never be a minion, always be an owner." Vanderbilt used many strategies to dive the competition to ultimately their fall of the businesses.

Once Vanderbilt entered the transportation market, he quickly

What changed Vanderbilt to Railroads from Steamboats. “Vanderbilt entered the railroad business in 1857 and eventually gained control of the New York and Harlem Railroad—again besting his rival, Daniel Drew. “ He thought that because of the war that was coming, he needed to think of a new way to prosper and help the war effort. “During the Civil War, Vanderbilt realized that the future of transportation lay not on the high seas but on land.” He used many of the same strategies as he used in the steam boat industry, like being able to control the price of shipping using his trains. Another one of Vanderbilt’s strategies was to buy out the competition like the other wealthy business men of the time. “In 1868, Vanderbilt decided he needed to buy the New York & Erie Railroad (Erie) to put an end to competition for New York City freight.” Vanderbilt almost enjoyed the competition and sometimes even created it. “he came to the conclusion that to remain competitive with the other major lines (Pennsylvania and the B&O), he needed to extend his route into Chicago.” Creating this competition made his business better, and I believe that this created a challenge for him. Cornelius Vanderbilt seemed like the type of person that liked a challenge, and it showed him that he could still be the best. These challenges led to him being on top of the game, and showed him that he could still boss people around and be the leader in the industry. Eventually Vanderbilt became the head of New York & Harlem Railroad “His interest in the steamboat industry had kept him from actively participating in the running of the railroad” He finally came to the conclusion that the ferry business was dying out, and he saw the future of transportation was by Rail. But, him being so invested in the ferry business that he was blinded to the other