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Crédit Mobilier Scandal

American history
Written and fact-checked byThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
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The unfinished Union Pacific Railroad at the 100th meridian, October 1866.
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The unfinished Union Pacific Railroad at the 100th meridian, October 1866.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Crédit Mobilier Scandal, in U.S. history, illegal manipulation of contracts by a construction and finance company associated with the building of the Union Pacific Railroad (1865–69); the incident established Crédit Mobilier of America as a symbol of post-Civil War corruption. Although its operations were more or less typical of 19th-century railroad building in a wide-open period of U.S. history often referred to as the “Great Barbecue,” sensational newspaper exposures and congressional investigations focussed attention on the Crédit Mobilier. Experience had already taught veteran railroad organizers that more money could be made from construction contracts than from operating the completed road. This promised to be doubly true in the case of the Union Pacific, which was supported by federal loans and land grants but would be spanning the vast unpopulated region between Omaha, on the Missouri River, and Great Salt Lake—a territory unlikely to produce much immediate revenue.

Crédit Mobilier was part of a complex arrangement whereby a few men contracted with themselves or assignees for the construction of the railroad. Along with certain trustees, the manipulators reaped enormous profits but impoverished the railroad in the process. When it was revealed that Oakes Ames, a congressman from Massachusetts, was involved, the House of Representatives investigated the scandal and censured him and a colleague; several others, including Vice Pres. Schuyler Colfax, were absolved.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.