Cornelius Vanderbilt Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794 on Port Richmond in Staten Island. Vanderbilt’s father struggled with farming in Staten Island and managing a boat in New York City. Cornelius did not have much of an education, just a little bit. During his childhood he helped his dad and learned to navigate more than he attended school. When Vanderbilt was 16 years old he bought a small vessel to bring people from Staten Island to NYC and vice versa. During the war of 1812 Vanderbilt owned a fleet of schooners and was in charge of the largest one. He became known for his bravery. Vanderbilt never fought in the navy, he just wanted to make some money. In 1818 the competition for steamboats was not as popular so he became a captain for a man named Thomas Gibbons. Gibbons owned a ferry that ran between New …show more content…
The Bellona had a flag that hung above it that said “New Jersey much be free!”, this was risky and was almost setting Vanderbilt up for arrest every time he came into New York. In 1823 Vanderbilt owned one-third of steamboats and testified against this New York law. A year later the New York law was said to be unconstitutional and taken down. In 1829 he left Gibbons and wanted to sell his tavern. He moved to NYC and wanted to start his own trade of steamboats along the Hudson River. He drew many people out of business because of his great prices. Vanderbilt’s competitors paid him to find a different trade route for 10 years because he took all their business so he then moved his route to Providence, Rhode Island, and Boston. He made new innovations to his steamboats and always made them better and better. By about the 1840s Vanderbilt became a millionare. In 1867 Vanderbilt sld his steamboats and bought stocks in railroads. He had control of the Hudson River Railroad and the New York Central Railroad. Vanderbilt spent 2 million dollars to make this efficient and nice for people. Drew entered in a conflict with a man named Drew and