The New Nation · The Economy

The Economy

How the United States built its economy in the first decades of independence — Hamilton’s financial revolution, the national bank, the Panic of 1819, and the growth of land, transport and industry.

A Young Economy Finds Its Feet

From Confederation to Constitution

1783

The Economy After the War

The debt-ridden, depressed economy the new nation inherited from the Revolution.

Postwar Depression

Crisis

Postwar Depression

The hard economic times that followed independence.

Articles of Confederation

Government

Articles of Confederation

Why the Confederation’s weak economic powers nearly sank the republic.

1787

The Economics of the Constitution

How economic crisis drove the framing of a stronger national government.

timeline

Timeline

Business & Finance Timeline

The economic events of the early republic, in order.

Building the Nation’s Credit

Hamilton’s Financial Revolution

finance

Finance

Hamilton to the Rescue

Alexander Hamilton’s bold plan to put the new nation on a sound financial footing.

A Great Debate

Politics

A Great Debate

The clash between Hamilton and Jefferson over the shape of the economy.

Whiskey Rebellion

1794

Whiskey Rebellion

The frontier tax revolt that tested federal authority.

banking

Banking

The Bank at Work

How the First Bank of the United States steadied the nation’s finances.

1811

End of the First Bank

The lapse of the First Bank’s charter and its consequences.

1816

Second Bank of the United States

The rechartered national bank and its turbulent early years.

Trouble in 1819

Crisis

Trouble in 1819

The economic strains that built toward the first great panic.

depression

Depression

Panic of 1819

The nation’s first major financial panic and depression.

Growth, Land and Industry

Building the Nation

introduction

Introduction

Building the Nation

How Americans began to knit a continental economy together.

infrastructure

Infrastructure

Improvements in Transportation

Roads, turnpikes, canals and steamboats that moved goods to market.

frontier

Frontier

Migration to the West

The great movement of Americans into the trans-Appalachian West.

industry

Industry

Advancements in Manufacturing

The early factories and machines that began American industry.

Tariffs

Trade

Tariffs

The protective tariffs meant to shield young American industry.

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