Table of Contents
Acknowledgments, iii
Abbreviations, v
Chart of Charters, vi
Table of Contents, ix
Chapter 1: Introduction to Banking and Politics in New York, 1
Introduction, 1
Banking and Emergent Democracy, 6
Democracy and the Market Economy, 9
Banking and American Federalism, 12
Introduction to Commercial Banking, 15
Picture 1.1: A one dollar note issued by the Bank of New York, 20
"Like the flux and reflux of the ocean.": The "Real
Bills" Theory of Commercial Banking, 25
New York's Colonial Land Banks, Private Lending, and Merchant Financing, 29
Table 1.1: List of bills of credit issued by the province of New York, 33
Chapter 2: Origins of Commercial Banking in New York I: The Crisis of
Liquidity, 45
Analysis of the Historiography of the Origins of Commercial Banking, 47
Definition and Description of Liquidity, 55
The Effects of the Revolution, 63
"The Crisis of Liquidity", 75
Chapter 3: Origins of Commercial Banking in New York II: The Quest for
Control, 92
The Breakdown of the "Culture of Deference", 95
Battle of the Banks, 123
The Power Vacuum Filled, 144
Another Coalition, 151
Chapter 4: The Battle for Charter: Early Political Divisions Over Banking,
159
Legislative Deadlock, 159
Victory at Last, 178
"The Banking Hydrophobia", 192
The Effects of the Panic and the Nature of Political Divisions in Early
National New York, 220
Map 4-1: 1785 Senate Vote on Bank of New York
Map 4-2: 1790 Senate Vote on Bank of New York
Map 4-3: Assembly Vote on the Bank of New York, 1791
Map 4-4: 1792 Assembly Vote on the Bank of Albany
Chapter 5: Early National Political Economy: Alexander Hamilton,
Manufactures, Banking, and the Panic of 1792, 225
Hamilton wanted SEUM to succeed, 229
Hamiltonian Federalists wanted to Stimulate Economic Growth, 252
Hamilton's Methods for Controlling Securities' Prices, 264
Other Sources of Revenue, 274
Hamilton's Foreign Policy: Manufacturing a Key to Hamilton's American Empire,
281
Conclusion, 287
Graph 5-1: Total Federal Revenue, 1791-1800
Graph 5-2: Annual Fluctuations in Federal Debt, 1791-1800
Graph 5-3: Stock Prices: Bank of New York vs. Bank of United States, February
1792 to October 1794
Graph 5-4: Internal Revenue as a Percentage of Total Federal Revenue,
1791-1800
Table 5-1: Directors of the Society for the Establishment of Useful
Manufactures
Chapter 6: Republican Banking, The Manhattan Company and Its Aftermath,
1793-1802, 289
Republicans' Fear of Wealth, 294
The Bank of Columbia, 1793, 298
The Prosperous Lull, 1794-1798, 302
Charter of the Manhattan Company, 304
The Manhattan Company and the Election of 1800, 326
A Republican Legislature's Banking Acts, 1801, 338
Number of Corporations Chartered in New York, 1800-1806, 344
The Calm Before the Storm, 1802, 347
Graph 6-1: Distribution of Pro-bank Votes: New York Legislature, 1784-1815 --
Percentages
Graph 6-2: Distribution of Pro-bank Votes II: New York Legislature, 1784-1815
-- Absolute
Graph 6-3: Bank Stock Prices in New York, 1799
Map 6-1: Turnpikes of Eastern New York, 1807
Map 6-2: Senate and Assembly Votes on the Bank of Columbia,
1793
Map 6-3: Analysis of Votes on Banking in the New York Legislature,
1785-1798
Map 6-4: Analysis of Votes on Banking in the New York Legislature,
1785-1809
Table 6-2: Manhattan Company Subscribers by Order of their Subscription,
1799
Chapter 7: "In the hope of enriching ourselves, and benefiting the
community": The New York State Bank, 1803-1804, 351
Banks, Bribery, and Corruption, 351
Republican Factions Fighting For Finance in 1803, 355
Election of 1803, 382
Formation of the New York State Bank and the Merchants' Bank, 391
The "Manhattan Project": The 1804 Legislature, 398
Burr vs. Lewis & Merchants' vs. Manhattan: The Election of 1804, 413
Graph 7-1: New York Bank Stock Prices, 1803
Map 7-1: The Assembly Rejects the Albany Mercantile Company in
1803
Law 7-1: The Restraining Act of 1804, and its Explanatory
Act
Chapter 8: The Merchants' Bank Struggle, 1805-1807, 425
"An error of the head rather than ... depravity of the heart.", 425
"The phalanx hitherto so firm, was disconcerted and broken": The
Merchants' Bank Scandal in the Legislature, 1805, 426
Election of 1805, 448
The 29th Legislature, 1806, 470
Election of 1806, 472
"The conflict of Democracy": The Legislature, 1807, 480
"Begotten in corruption, and brought forth in iniquity": "The
imbecility of the leading Quids" and the Election of 1807, 489
Graph 8-1: Prices of Bank Stock in New York, 1805
Map 8-1: 14th Vote on the Merchants Bank, 28th Assembly,
1805
Map 8-2: The Mohawk's Failure in the Assembly, 1806
Map 8-3: The Mohawk Bank Passes the Assembly, 1807
Map 8-4: Support for Ending Fractional Currency, 1807
Table 8-1: Identification and Number of Shares of Merchants' Bank
Stockholders, 1805
Chapter 9: Taxes and Embargoes, 1808-1810, 497
Recharters Galore: The 1808 Legislature, 497
"We stand on American ground -- We are Federalists.": The Elections
of 1808, 511
A failed attempt "to counteract the exertions of Pennsylvania" :
The 1809 Legislature, 514
Continued Federalist Resurgence: The Election of 1809, 517
Accommodation for Manhattan's Mechanics and Branch Banking: The 1810
Legislature, 524
"More anxious to obtain offices than about the Interest of their
party": Federalists lose ground in the Election of 1810, 535
Graph 9-1: Prices of Bank Stock in New York, 1810
Map 9-1: Opposition to a Dividend Tax on the Farmers' Bank,
1808
Map 9-2: Support for a Capital Tax on the Bank of Hudson,
1808
Map 9-3: Support for the Bank of New York Recharter Bonus,
1808
Map 9-4: Opposition to the Bank of Newburgh and the Bank of Greene in the
Assembly's Committee of the Whole, 1810
Map 9-5: Assembly Vote on the Mechanics' Bank (N.Y.C.) in
1810
Map 9-6: Locations of Incorporated Commercial Banks in 1810
Chapter 10: More Mania, More Taxes, More "Undue Influence,"
Prorogation, and War, 1811-1812, 548
A "Flood" of Bank Petitions and "a mania in favor of
banks": The Legislature, 1811, 548
Table 10-1: New York Bank Capital, 1811, 553
"Save our country from the iron grasp of the Tyrants of the day.":
The Election of 1811, 586
"Powerful engines to corrupt and subdue republican notions": The
Prorogation of the 35th Legislature, 1812, 594
A "Kingly right" and a "Virginia President": The Election
of 1812, 614
The Bank of America Passes Anyway: The Post-Prorogation Meeting of the
Legislature, May 1812, 617
Graph 10-1: Price of New York Bank Stocks, 1811
Graph 10-2: Price of New York Bank Stocks, 1812
Map 10-1: Opposition to the Western District Bank in the Assembly, March 12,
1811
Map 10-2: Rejection of the BUS-NY Relief Bill in the Assembly,
1811
Map 10-3: City Bank's Demise in the 1811 Assembly: A Composite View of Two
Votes
Map 10-4: Success of the Bank of Newburgh in the Assembly,
1811
Map 10-5: Victory for the Middle District Bank of Poughkeepsie in the 1811
Assembly
Map 10-6: Remonstrance Against the Bank of America, 1812
Map 10-7: Opposition to the City Bank of New York in the 1812
Assembly
Map 10-8: Opposition to the New York Manufacturing Company's Banking Clause
in the Assembly, 1812
Map 10-9: Composite View of the Assembly Votes on the Bank of America,
1812
Chapter 11: The Bank of Utica: Case Study of Economic Growth, 1808-1828, 625
Introduction, 625
Analysis of Literature of Economic Growth and Development, 627
Banking in Utica, 640
Table 11-1: Bank Capital by Senatorial District, 646
The Operation of the Bank of Utica, 659
Bank of Utica Stockholders, 663
Table 11-2: Bank of Utica Stockholders by Occupation, 663
Description of Uticans Who Used the Bank, 665
Other Bank of Utica Customers -- Myth Testing and Breaking, 666
Myth #1: Society was divided into separate economic interests based on
occupation, 668
Myth #2: Commercial banks only discounted notes presented by merchants,
lawyers, and politicians, 670
Myth #3 Country banks provided financial facilities only for locals, 675
Myth #4: Country banks were political machines which excluded nonparty
members, 676
Myth #5: Directors usurped more of the borrowing power of the bank than they
were entitled to on the basis of their property, 679
Hypothesis #1: The Bank of Utica was a bank and banker training ground, 681
Alexander Bryan Johnson, 683
Tentative conclusions, 697
Graph 11-1: Distribution of Discounts: Bank of Utica,
1812-1814
Picture 11-1: Bank of Utica Ledger
Picture 11-2: Bank of Utica Discount Book
Table 11-3: Bank of Utica Customers, 1813-1814
Table 11-4: Bank of Geneva Stockholders
Chapter 12: Banking in the Cultural Consciousness I: Diffusion of the Banking
Ethos, 699
Introduction, 699
Description of the Banking Ethos, 701
Diffusion and Seepage of the Banking Ethos, 705
The Banking Ethos Challenged, 711
Ambivalent Attitudes Toward Emerging Modernity, 723
Humor, 725
Physical Extension of Bank Note Circulation, 732
Table 12-1: 45 Lost Money Advertisements, 1784-1828
Chapter 13: Banking and the Cultural Consciousness II: Women, Native
Americans, and Blacks in High Finance, 740
Introduction, 740
History and Historiography of Women in Colonial and Early National Finance,
741
The Feme Sole Trader, 748
A Glimpse into the Thoughts of a Milliner, 751
Survey of Women in the Early National Economy, 760
Table 13-1: Non-widow Landowners in Utica Village, 1814, 761
Victorianism, 774
Native New Yorkers, 777
Was Wampum "Money"?, 777
When did Native New York Indians begin to use Anglo-American forms of
Finance?, 783
When did Native New York Indians begin to use Anglo-American forms of Money?,
784
When did Native American New Yorkers begin to accept the Banking
Ethos? 791
Blacks, 793
Picture 13-1: Matthias, Porter of the Bank of New York, 796
Table 13-2: List of Women Milliners, Mantuamakers, and Merchants in New York,
1784-1830
Chapter 14: Banking Aids Personal and Business Finance, 1784-1840, 797
Introduction, 797
Liquidity, 800
Remittances, 807
The Seeds of the Managerial Revolution and the Changing Face of Business
Ethics, 816
"Accommodation" Loans, 824
Loans to manufacturing, 830
Investment, 832
Table 14-1: Investments of Horatio Seymour, 836
Conclusion, 837
Table 14-2: Philip Schuyler's Banking Activity by Year,
1798-1804
Table 14-3: Philip Schuyler's Banking Activity by Month,
1798-1804
Table 14-4: Analysis of Philip Schuyler's Bank Deposits
Table 14-4: Analysis of Philip Schuyler's Discounts
Table 14-6: Analysis of Bank of Albany Dividend's 1798-1804
Chapter 15: New York Banks and Government Finance in the Early National
Period, 839
Introduction, 839
"The intimate relationship": New York Banks Help the National
Government, 1785-1815, 839
New York and the Second Bank of the United States, 1814-1817, 848
New York City, 860
Table 15-1: New York City's Bonded Debt to New York Banks, 1816, 869
State, 870
Graph 15-1: Major Sources of New York State Revenues in Absolute and Relative
Terms, 1790-1824
Table 15-2: Major Sources of New York State Revenues in Absolute and
Relative Terms, 1790-1824
Chapter 16: War, Peace, and Banking, 1813-1815, 878
The War Legislatures and Banking, 878
The Legislature of 1813, 878
"A degree of resentment and malignity never before known in this
state.": The Election of 1813, 901
"A determination to resist the incorporation of any further banking
companies": The 1814 Legislature, 904
The Election of 1814, 927
The Legislature of 1815, 929
Federal Resurgence: The Election of 1815, 937
Graph 16-1: Price of New York Bank Stocks, 1813
Map 16-1: Petitions for News Banks in the Legislature, 1813
Map 16-2: Opposition to the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Schenectady in
the Assembly, 1813
Map 16-3: Geographical Location of Bank of Utica Customers,
1813-1814
Map 16-4: Defeat of the Bank of Utica's Proposed Branch in Canandaigua in the
Assembly, 1814
Map 16-5: Opposition to the Mechanics' and Merchants' Bank of Schenectady in
the Assembly, 1814
Map 16-6: Opposition to the Commercial Bank of Albany in the Assembly,
1814
Map 16-7: Assembly opposition to a 12% tax on unredeemed bank notes,
1814
Map 16-8: Opposition to the Otsego County Bank in the Assembly,
1814
Map 16-9: Petitions for New Banks in the Legislature, 1814
Map 16-10: Locations of Incorporated Commercial Banks in
1815
Chapter 17: Postwar Prosperity?: The Economics and Politics of Banking,
1816-1818, 941
The Postwar Economy, 1816-1818, 941
1816 Legislature, 954
"A change in our political horizon": The election of 1816, 965
Legislature of 1817, 974
Clinton vice Tompkins: The Election of 1817, 989
"Like the Syren in the fable, they entice to destroy.": The 1818
Legislature, 992
The Election of 1818, 1013
Graph 17-1: Price of New York Bank Stocks, 1817
Table 17-1: List of Counterfeit Notices in New York,
1784-1829
Table 17-2: Reported Condition of Some Country Banks, January
1819
Chapter 18: The Panic of 1819 and the Constitution of 1821: The Need for
Reform in New York Banking, 1819-1823, 1,023
"The balloon of unsupported paper credit is descending to the
earth.": The Panic of 1819, 1024
Table 18-1: Wheat Prices, 1811-1822, 1025
Panic Politics in New York, 1819, 1034
"We have no confidence in the present halcyon cry of the 'era of good
feelings'.": Panic and Politics in New York, 1820, 1060
Panic Politics of 1821, 1070
The Constitutions of 1777 and 1821, 1074
"Their time is short": The Last Old Assembly, 1822, 1088
"The Bank War" and "The Lion of the West": 1823, 1095
Graph 18-1: Average Lawsuits in Utica, 1808-1822
Graph 18-2: Yearly Average Awards in Utica: 1808-1822
Graph 18-3: Types of Lawsuits in Utica, 1808-1822
Graph 18-4: Types of Lawsuits in Utica, 1808
Graph 18-5: Average Awards: Utica Lawsuits, 1808
Graph 18-6: Types of Lawsuits in Utica, 1810
Graph 18-7: Average Awards: Utica Lawsuits, 1810
Graph 18-8: Types of Lawsuits in Utica, 1812
Graph 18-9: Average Awards: Utica Lawsuits, 1812
Graph 18-10: Types of Lawsuits in Utica, 1814
Graph 18-11: Average Awards: Utica Lawsuits, 1814
Graph 18-12: Types of Lawsuits in Utica, 1817
Graph 18-13: Average Awards: Utica Lawsuits, 1817
Graph 18-14: Types of Lawsuits in Utica, 1818
Graph 18-15: Average Awards: Utica Lawsuits, 1818
Graph 18-16: Types of Lawsuits in Utica, 1820
Graph 18-17: Average Awards: Utica Lawsuits, 1820
Graph 18-18: Types of Lawsuits in Utica, 1822
Graph 18-19: Average Awards: Utica Lawsuits, 1822
Graph 18-20: Number of Suits in N.Y.C., 1809-1822
Graph 18-21: New York City Lawsuits, 1809-1822: The Supreme Court of
Judicature
Graph 18-22: Percentage of Corporations Formed in New York, by Type,
1790-1845
Graph 18-23: Price of Wheat per Bushel, 1807-1825
Chapter 19: The Rise of Savings Banks and Jacob Barker's Conspiracy Trials,
1824-1827, 1101
Rise and Growth of Savings Banks, 1816-1830, 1101
New York Politics in 1824: Like an Irishman's Horse -- Hard to Catch and Good
for Nothing When Caught, 1108
The Bank of Rochester Squabble, 1822-1825, 1114
"The Battle of the Banks": 1825, 1121
Table 19-1: Banking Capital, Real Estate, and Population by Senatorial
District, 1125
Report of the Federalist Cyclops and the Return of Clinton: Banks and
Politics in 1826, 1131
"Don't give up the ship.": Jacob Barker's Conspiracy Trials,
1826-1827, 1134
"I do not think there will be any new banks this winter.": The 1827
Legislature and Elections, 1148
Map 19-1: Senatorial Districts Under the Constitution of
1821
Table 19-2: Professions and Occupations of Depositors in the Bank for Savings
in New York, as of January 1, 1820
Chapter 20: The Revised Statutes and the Safety Fund: Attempts at Reform and
the Rise of Radical Jacksonianism in New York, 1828-1829, 1,153
The Rise of Radical Jacksonianism, 1153
Table 20-1: Bank Capital, Profits, and Population in New York City,
1819-1827, 1154
The Revised Statutes, 1160
"A great shock to all parties": The death of De Witt Clinton, 1828,
1163
"Even many of the bank men ... have at length come to see the risks of
the old system and are changing their policy.": Creation of the Safety
Fund, 1828-1829, 1166
"This unrighteous act": Reaction to and Effects of the Safety Fund,
1176
Table 20-2: Early Safety Fund Bank Losses, 1187
Map 20-1: Locations of Incorporated Commercial Banks in 1820
Map 20-2: Location of Incorporated Commercial Banks in 1828
Law 20-1: Abstract of the Provisions of the Safety Fund and a Typical Safety
Fund Charter
Glossary of Economic and Banking Terms, 1189
Works Consulted, 1204
Manuscripts, 1204
Collected/Printed Manuscript Sources, 1210
Government and Legal Sources, 1212
Newspapers, 1214
Printed Primary Sources, 1218
Directories, 1226
Bibliographies, Newspaper Indices, Standard Reference Works, Biographical
Dictionaries, Computerized Reference Systems, 1226
Dissertations and Other Unpublished Secondary Sources, 1228
Antiquarian, Genealogical, and Local Sources, 1232
Secondary Books, 1237
Secondary Articles, 1253
Index, 1258
Vita, 1300
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Robert E. Wright, “Banking and Politics in New
York, 1784-1829” (Ann Arbor, Mich: University
Microfilms, 1997).
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literate, the attention to detail encyclopedic Robert Wright's treatment of
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