Cornelius Vanderbilt's Steamboat Monopoly

Cornelius Vanderbilt, steamship owner, railroad builder, executive, financier, and promoter. Son of a ferryman and farmer born May 27, 1794 to January 4, 1877 at Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York, Cornelius Vanderbilt, received little formal schooling but was a very smart boy. He dropped out of school because of being from a poor family so he had to help make ends meet (history, 2015).

A case concerning congressional power to regulate commerce. In 1798, New York granted Robert. Livingston a monopoly to operate steamboats on all waters within the state. Livingston later partnered with Robert Fulton and the two gained a similar monopoly in New Orleans in 1811. Both Fulton and Livingston later died, but their New York monopoly rights were purchased by Aaron Ogden. Ogden and Thomas Gibbons entered into a partnership to carry passengers between New York City and Elizabethtown. Gibbons had a federal permit to operate steamship along the coast. This allowed the partners to carry passengers between New York and New Jersey. The partnership later dissolved, and Gibbons partnered with

Cornelius Vanderbilt, a. k. a. The Commodore, was the richest man in America from 1850 to 1875. He had an estimated $100 million when he died, all left to his son, William. But the most important thing to know about Cornelius Vanderbilt, is that he was a robber baron.

“Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt, also known as the founder of the New York Central Railroad System, was born on May 27th, 1794 in Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York. He was named after his father, who “...instilled in him a blunt, straightforward demeanor...” while his mother, Phoebe Hand instilled “...frugality and hard work....”. It is known that his family has roots in De Bilt, which is a town in the Netherlands.

It required that all prices must be reasonable and just, rates must be publically posted, outlawed all secret rebates and deals, and price discrimination against smaller companies was now made illegal. While the act promised many changes to reduce the domination of the railroad monopolies, it was not enforced as pro-railroad commissioners were appointed by most of the later presidents. The next act passed by congress in 1890 called Sherman Antitrust Act. The objective of the act was to ban trusts and other contracts that restrained free trade. Much like the Interstate Commerce it was not enforced at all. In fact it was used to help the railroad monopolies even more by regulating labor unions. The very pro-business Supreme Court would rule that strikes violated the prohibition against “a conspiracy in restraint of trade.” In the act. This was the opposite intent of the act, and would not be properly enforced until the early

The State Court decided in Ogden’s favor and Gibbons appealed the New York court’s decision to the Supreme Court.

Next, the Court examined the clause's phrase "commerce among the several States," concluding that the word "among" means "intermingled with." Accordingly, Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce does not "stop at the external boundary line of each State, but may be introduced into the interior." In other words, Congress may pass any law that regulates commerce, so long as that commerce is not wholly confined within a single state, and its power to regulate such commerce is plenary. Under this interpretation of the Commerce Clause, Congress' clearly had the authority to regulate the commercial steamboat route between New York and New Jersey. It was assumed that the licensing act of 1793 did this and that the New York law in question

William Vanderbilt was an American businessman whose wealth was derived from the thriving railroad industry of the late nineteenth century. He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1821 and died at age 64 on December 8, 1885. During this time, he led the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, the Canada Southern Railway, and the Michigan Central Railroad. He took over as president for these organizations for his father. His father, Cornelius Vanderbilt, brought the railroad business to his family. Upon his death, William Vanderbilt was the richest man in the world. His success can be attributed to his ability to capitalize on the transportation revolution that swept America years ago, and only remained to expand and grow with the

Market entrepreneurs, by contrast, often made decisive and unpredictable contributions to American economic development.” Vanderbilt started off by carrying customers from the Elizabeth to New York in low costs. He became famous because of his low fares and cunning personality. A breakthrough came in Vanderbilt business when the court broke Fulton monopoly by the result of Gibbons vs Ogden trial, which stated that only federal government could regulate interstate commerce not the states. Vanderbilt eventually beat Fulton by lowering rates to record numbers, earning reputation, and investing in new technology and lookout for the future.

Gibbons v. Ogden was a landmark decision in which the United States Supreme Court held that power to regulate interstate commerce. It was given to congress by the commerce clause of the constitution. It was led by Chief Justice John Marshall. The debate in Gibbons concerned contending cases of adversary steamship establishments. The condition of New York gave Aaron Ogden a select permit to work steamboat ships between New Jersey and New York City on the Hudson River. Thomas Gibbons, another steamboat administrator, ran two ships along the same course. Ogden looked for an order against Gibbons in a New York state court, asserting that the state had issued him elite rights to work the course. Accordingly, Gibbons guaranteed he had the privilege to work on the course in accordance with a 1793 demonstration of Congress directing waterfront business. The New York court found for Ogden and requested Gibbons to stop working his steamships; on bid, the New York Supreme Court avowed the request. Gibbons spoke to the U.S. Preeminent Court, which surveyed the case in 1824. John Marshall ruled for Gibbons, holding that New York 's selective award to Ogden disregarded the government authorizing demonstration of 1793. In coming to its choice, the Court deciphered the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution surprisingly. The proviso peruses that "Congress should have energy to manage trade among the few States." According to the Court, "trade" included articles in

The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 is federal law in the United States. It was designed to regulate the railroad industry especially its monopolistic practices. A number of states in US such as Ohio had unsuccessfully attempted to regulate railroads before 1887. Ohio had created a state commission to report on railroad and telegraph rates in 1867 but the commission did not have the authority to change rates or to order the railroad companies to change their policies. Due to failure of states to regulate railroads, the Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887. The Act required that railroads charge fair rates to their customers and make those rate public.

Cornelius Vanderbilt was the most powerful railroad baron. He earned a fortune for himself in the steamship line. He also combined the New York and Harlem and New York and Hudson estate ferry boat operations. He established a connection between New York and Albany to make Lake Shore and Michigan Southern link Buffalo with Chicago. When he died he owned and operated nearly 4500 miles of track between New York City and most of the important cities in the Midwest. He left his fortune to his son, unlike the others he did not donate to many organizations. The only contribution he gave was to support the, now, Vanderbilt College.

though he did go from nothing to millions, he grew up the most of his life as a poor

Livingston secured all the rights to steamboats and quickly took over water transportation because no one else had any ship to compete with the at the time all superior steamboat. Robert Fulton had hundreds of steamboat making trips from New York City to Albany New York. Robert Fulton and Robert L. Livingston’s control of waterways was short lived and in 1824 the Supreme Court declared that their monopoly was unconstitutional. With other companies now being allowed to make ships and use the waterways the all bodies of water were now swarmed with boats moving people and

Cornelius Vanderbilt was a steamship and railroad tycoon. He made millions in the steamship business before turning to the promising railroad industry. He began to take capital from the steamship business to buy railroads, starting with the New York and Harlem Railroad in 1862. Vanderbilt eventually amassed over $100 million from his railroad empire and his wealth and power was virtually untouchable. He was a ruthless businessman, once saying to a competitor “You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I will ruin you.” His New York Central rail line operated from New York to Chicago along more than 4,500 miles of track at the time of his death.