Origins of Commercial Banking in America, 1750–1800. By Robert E. Wright. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001. Pp. xii, 217. $24.95, paper.

Abstract

Eighteenth-century America poses a puzzle: why were there no successful commercial banks before the Revolution, and why did they appear soon after? Economic historians have blamed British policy for the lack of Colonial banks. The British limited Colonial development and therefore there was little need for banks. Laws, such as the Currency Acts, may have prevented commercial banks in the Colonies. Banks emerged soon after the Revolution because British rule ended, freeing the United States to establish its own institutional framework and monetary system.