The nature of America's early economy has been hotly contested for
several decades. Historians have often focused on the question of when
America became 'capitalist, ' while economists have tried to determine
when American economic growth sped up. In The Origins of Commercial
Banking in America, Robert E. Wright argues that the ultimate causes of
American economic development and transformation into a modern society
can be reduced to the causes of American banking. In the first full
analysis of the origins of American commercial banking since Bray
Hammond's monumental study forty-five years ago, Wright skillfully
examines the political and economic forces that contributed to the
origins and rise of banks in cities such as Philadelphia, New York, and
Boston, as well as in smaller towns servicing rural America. Wright
expertly assesses the impact of the war for independence, Superintendent
of Finance Robert Morris' policies under the Confederation, the economic
and political effects of the postwar depression of 1784-86, the attempts
of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to address the country's
economic problems, and Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton's
financial program under the new Constitution. Wright looks at both the
macro and micro sides of issues--how state and national governments
addressed problems and chartered (and sometimes unchartered banks) as
well as how private individuals tried to cope with the need to obtain
capital and the effects on them of early bankruptcy laws. He describes
the varied and sometimes arcane financial and commercial instruments
that existed both before and after the establishment of banks, and how
they fostered economic development. We are introduced to an emerging
capitalist system struggling to provide capital needed by America's
voracious economy. The Origins of Commercial Banking in America is
essential reading for anyone interested in the political and economic
origins of the early republic.
