The changing fiscal landscape of early nineteenth-century New England: State-chartered banks and the access to capital

Summary

In the first half of the Nineteenth Century, New England’s fiscal landscape was transformed by the growth in state-chartered commercial banks. Between 1784 and 1860 the number of state-chartered local banks in New England increased from 1 to 505. In the currency-starved Early Republic, the expansion marks an explosive growth in access to short-term commercial loans for merchant’s purchase of inventory. Moreover, as these banks spread across New England’s town commons, there was an institutional transformation. The institutional means for the aggregation of capital for local projects replaced personal loans limited to the established elite. Capitalization for mill, factory, canal and railroad became localized. This project maps the changing fiscal landscape by tracking the spatial pattern of state-chartered bank expansion, and the changing spatial patterns of loan capitalization. One aspect of the capital penetration of the early nineteenth-century New England is revealed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Economic Archaeology

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-78,01