Union Pacific Railroad

Credit Mobilier Scandal: The Birth of the Gilded Age

1872-09-04 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

On September 4, 1872, the New York Sun published a blockbuster exposé under the headline “The King of Frauds,” revealing a massive corruption scheme involving Union Pacific Railroad executives, a dummy construction company called Credit Mobilier of America, and approximately one dozen …

Oakes Ames Schuyler Colfax Union Pacific Railroad Credit Mobilier of America Ulysses S. Grant Administration systematic-corruption institutional-capture infrastructure-profiteering congressional-bribery

Pacific Railway Act Creates Land Grant System Enabling Massive Railroad Speculation and Corruption

1862-07-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

President Abraham Lincoln signs the Pacific Railway Act, authorizing extensive land grants in the Western United States and the issuance of 30-year government bonds to the Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad companies to construct a transcontinental railroad. While the act becomes …

Abraham Lincoln U.S. Congress Union Pacific Railroad Central Pacific Railroad Thomas C. Durant +1 more railroad-corruption land-grants speculation credit-mobilier institutional-corruption