Starting in 1775, the Continental Congress issued paper currency (“Continentals”) and interest-bearing loan certificates to fund the war effort, supplemented by foreign loans from France and the Netherlands
As Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton’s first official act was to submit a report to Congress to lay the foundation for the nation’s financial health
Chartered by Congress on February 25, 1791, and signed into law by President George Washington, the First Bank of the United States was the centerpiece of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton’s program to place the young nation’s finances on a sound footing
Hamilton’s 1790 funding program and the 1791 launch of the Bank of the United States set off a wave of speculation in federal bonds and bank shares
On May 17, 1792, 24 stockbrokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement, reportedly under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street, agreeing to trade securities only among themselves and to charge a fixed minimum commission of .25%
Chartered by Congress in April 1816 (signed April 10, 1816 by President James Madison), the Second Bank of the United States was created to restore order to a currency and credit system left in disarray by the War of 1812, when the absence of a central bank had allowed state banks to over-issue notes and suspend specie...
After President James Madison vetoed a federal internal-improvements bill in 1817, New York State, led by Governor DeWitt Clinton, took on the project of linking the Hudson River to the Great Lakes itself
The Panic of 1819 was the first widespread and durable financial crisis in the United States, marked by a collapse of the American economy, bank failures, and high unemployment lasting through the early 1820s
Chartered by New York State on April 17, 1826, the Mohawk & Hudson was the state’s first chartered railroad. It was built to carry Erie Canal passengers and freight between Albany and Schenectady, bypassing a slow, winding stretch of the canal and cutting a day-long trip to about an hour
On the frigid night of December 16, 1835, a fire broke out in a warehouse near Hanover Square. Gale-force winds spread it through the commercial heart of lower Manhattan. Temperatures were so low that water froze in hoses and wells, leaving volunteer firefighters nearly powerless