ABSTRACT
The process whereby credit was "democratized" in the United States began in the late nineteenth century and gained considerable momentum in the decades to follow. This chapter explains three key themes of study of credit. The first is a cultural predilection towards entrepreneurship, trade, and consumerism, which made the embrace of credit acceptable within society. The second theme is the spread of credit from being the privilege of the wealthy and the powerful to becoming available to a wider range of American society. The third is the volatility factor. In the United States credit needs existed for large projects, but also smaller, personalized needs. Although the concept was discussed in the United States, and credit union legislation was even considered in Massachusetts in 1871, the idea did not take root until the turn of the century. The path of credit development in the United States was long and it took many decades to establish a truly national system.
