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How Did Cornelius Vanderbilt Build A Ferry Business

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Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794, in Port Richmond area of Staten Island, New York. He was born into a poor family; owning a small farm with his illiterate father working the land and being a ferryman. Providing low level transportation services. Cornelius then dropped out of his education at age 11 to go work for his father to support his family in the farm and at the waterfront. As he was working with boats and as well as the sea; it was from that point on that Cornelius had an interest in the shipping business. Cornelius started his boating business when he bought his first periauger; a flat bottomed sailing barge and started a small ferry service between his home town Staten Island to Manhattan. He would ferry passengers, and dry goods. His business grew over the years because of his skill as being a sailor always undercutting his competition. However, his ferry business thrived when he received a government contract to supply forts during the war of 1812; it …show more content…

In order for his business not to decline he sold all of his vessels and obtained a job working for Thomas Gibbons as steamship captain. As he was working for Gibbons for about ten years ferrying passengers from New Jersey to Manhattan; Cornelius learned how to operate and maintain a steamboat; as well as leaning the skills to operate his own steamboat company in 1829. Over the next decade. Cornelius in his mid-thirties controlled the traffic on the Hudson River. He achieved this by again offering lower rates and for the accommodations on the ships. Cornelius became the dominate steamship presence on the Hudson River. His competitors were struggling to stay in business as his operations grew; they eventually came together and paid Cornelius in agreement for him to move his operation elsewhere. Cornelius moved his operation to serve Long Island and

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