Throughout the late nineteenth century, several men such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Cornelius and William Vanderbilt built empires in railroad construction, coal mining, and the oil industry. Throughout these men's reign, they were known as "industrial statesmen" and "captains of industry." These titles praised the men who built their amazing companies, often from the bottom up. But after a while, people started to question these men's power, motive, and objective. These critics coined the phrase "robber barons" to express disdain for their selfish techniques. Although they were "industrial statesmen," it is justifiable to say that the industrial leaders of the 1865-1900 era were also "robber barons."
             There is no doubt that even the most corrupt industrial leaders were brilliant. This is true in the case of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt was poorly educated and he lacked good grammar. But he still made millions as a steamboat tycoon. Vanderbilt invested some of his money that he earned from the steamboat business into the railroad business. He revolutionized the business by swapping old iron tracks with new steel tracks. He started off buying stocks of small railroads. Once he completely owned every share of the a certain railroad line, he would merge it with another line, creating a single line which produced a great profit. His most famous merger was the New York Central, which he merged with the Hudson River line. After many years in the railroad business, Vanderbilt owned several railroad lines, including the line from New York to Chicago. William Stoddard said in his book, Men of Achievement, that Vanderbilt "went into [the business] in its very infancy, grew with it, and its present condition owes more to him than to any other man... No other business man can be given a higher rank as one of the builders of prosperity of the commonwealth." But Vanderbilt made sure that the people of this commonweal...