CORNELIUS VANDERBILT: THE ORIGINAL TYCOON
Episode 13 | Human History — Individuals
In this History episode we focus on Cornelius Vanderbilt — the man who started with a $100 loan from his mother, built the American railroad system, and died the richest person in United States history.
This episode covers his years ferrying in New York Harbor, the Supreme Court case he helped force that established federal authority over interstate commerce, his Nicaragua route during the Gold Rush, and the audacious late-career pivot that built the first unified railroad from New York City to Chicago.
Before Rockefeller, before Carnegie — there was…
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