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Jay Gould Stock Manipulation

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Jason “Jay” Gould, a ruthless robber baron of the Industrial Revolution, is guilty of stock manipulation to grapple control with other wealthy industrialists, attempting to influence the government outside the boundaries of legal lobbying, and the attempted kidnapping of a foreign dignitary after legal means to his greed-driven ends were expended. The accused was born on a farm in Roxbury, New York. After scamming his first employer, a blacksmith, into giving him half-interest in the shop that he could sell to his father, he later entered into several business partnerships with other businessmen to get into the leather industry in Pennsylvania. Taking advantage of his former partners, he escalated quickly and began investing in railroad stock. …show more content…

During the Civil War, Gould and his business partners had gotten rich off exploiting the railroad running from New York and let it fall into disrepair while they lined their pockets instead of serving their country. When Vanderbilt tried to make a move on the railway, they inflated its worth illegally by creating thousands of illegal, false stocks that tripled its apparent worth. After seeming to give in to Vanderbilt, an arrest warrant was issued for Gould and his conspirators. How did they evade the warrant? By sneaking into New York as fugitives and using their financial power to cash in for political power and secure legitimacy for their previous actions in the stock market. Any on the jury must ask themselves, is this fair? These men, having enough wealth amassed from illegal activity, bought themselves from Lady Justice’s grasp- it is clear Baron Gould still has yet to be faced by its …show more content…

When he felt as though Gordon-Gordon had swindled him in a business arrangement that they had come to terms on, Gould and his co-conspirators kidnapped the man and tried to bring him across the border into the United States. Before these criminals reached the border, they were apprehended by mounted law enforcement who detained them on Canadian soil without bail for their crimes. Gould then used his political influence to free himself by having the governor of Minnesota threaten war with the Canadian government. What business does a kidnapper, who will break international and national laws - even go as far as to stoke the flames of war between two otherwise peaceful nations, have walking the

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