Antebellum History
In the first half of the 19th century, many of the smaller commercial banks within New England were easily chartered as laws allowed to do so (primarily due to open franchise laws). The rise of commercial banking saw an increase in opportunities for wealthy individuals to become involved in entrepreneurial projects they would not involve themselves in without someone to guarantee a return on their investment. These early banks acted as intermediaries for entrepreneurs who did not have enough wealth to fund their own investment projects and for those who did have wealth but did not want to bear the risk of investing in projects. Thus, this private banking sector witnessed an array of insider lending, due primarily to low bank leverage and an information quality correlation, but many of these banks actually spurred early investment and helped spur many later projects. Despite what some may consider discriminatory practices with insider lending, these banks actually were very sound and failures remained uncommon, further encouraging the financial evolution in the United States.
Read more about this topic: Banking In The United States
Famous quotes containing the words antebellum and/or history:
“He was high and mighty. But the kindest creature to his slaves—and the unfortunate results of his bad ways were not sold, had not to jump over ice blocks. They were kept in full view and provided for handsomely in his will. His wife and daughters in the might of their purity and innocence are supposed never to dream of what is as plain before their eyes as the sunlight, and they play their parts of unsuspecting angels to the letter.”
—Anonymous Antebellum Confederate Women. Previously quoted by Mary Boykin Chesnut in Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, edited by C. Vann Woodward (1981)
“The history of the Victorian Age will never be written: we know too much about it.”
—Lytton Strachey (1880–1932)