Chapter 17-Amsco Review

Front 1

Cornelius Vanberbilt

Back 1

- Also known as "Commodore" Cornelius
- Used his millions earned from steamboat buisness to merge local railraod into the New York Central Railroad*

Front 2

New York Central Railroad

Back 2

- Created in 1867
- Ran from New York City to Chicago
- Operated more than 4,500 miles of track

Front 3

truck line

Back 3

- A truck line was the major route between large cities; smaller branch lines connected the trunk line with outlying towns.

Front 4

federal land grants

Back 4

-Realizing the railroads would lead to Western Settlment the government provided railroad companies with huge subsidies in the form of loans and land grants.
-Some 80 railroad companies recieved more than 170 million acres of public land.

Front 5

transcontinetal railraods

Back 5

- During the Civil War congress authorized land grants and loans for the building of the first transcontinental railroad.
- It connected California to the rest of the union.
- Before 1900, four other transcontinetal railroads were consrtucted across different sections of the West.

Front 6

Union and Central Pacific

Back 6

- The Union Pacific was to build westward across the Great Plains.
- The Central Pacific took on the challenge of laying track across mountain passes in the Sierras by pushing eastward from Sacramento, California.

Front 7

Jay Gould

Back 7

- Was a soeculator that went into the railroad buisness for quick profits and made millions by selling off assets and watering stock*.

Front 8

watered stock

Back 8

- Inflating the value of a corportaions's assets and profits before selling its stock to the public.

Front 9

pools

Back 9

- A way for Speculators to gain money.
- When competing companies agree secretly and informally to fix rates and share traffic.

Front 10

rebates

Back 10

-With all the competing railroads tring to survive railroads offered rebates (discounts) and kickbacks to favore shippers while charging exorbitant freight rates to smaller costumers.