Analysis Of Cornelius Vanderbilt's Life After The Civil War

The episode starts soon after the Civil War ends with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. After the assassination occurs,the fate of America does not look good with the still divided union and confederacy. Many people around the world looked at America’s democracy as an experimental failure. However, a self made man by the name of Cornelius Vanderbilt began reshaping, and modernizing America. Vanderbilt began his journey to wealth at the age of 16 when he took a $100 loan from his mother that he used to buy his own ferry. After building up his wealth on the water, he began to take on the railroad industry. Vanderbilt had a stake in almost every important rail line in the country, but his stock market corner was the Harlem Rail Line. Although Vanderbilt was one of the wealthiest men in the country, he was getting old. At the age of 76, 30 years past the average life expectancy, he was looking for someone that he could later hand his fortune down to. Since his favorite son George died in the Civil War, he had no choice but to choose his other son, William. He began to introduce William to the family business by making him a partner and allowing him to …show more content…
He soon created a blockade that prevented any of his competitors from using it and getting to New York. THe blockade on the bridge had the results that Vanderbilt intended. It caused a massive sell of his rival companies stocks, which left Vanderbilt with the open opportunity to buy controlling amounts of stocks at rock bottom prices. With this he began to build his railroad monopoly. Shortly after buying all of these stocks, he built the New York City Central Railroad Depot, currently known as Grand Central Station. Not only was it the largest building in New York, but it was the largest railroad station in the country taking up more than 22