ABSTRACT
The world of American business of 1815 differed in many respects from its progenitor of 1775. In 1780, 76,000 persons lived in leading cities of 8,000 or more residents; in 1810, eleven such cities had 356,000 inhabitants. During the Revolution the service had failed to pay its way and had labored fitfully, harassed by currency depreciation, by enemy troop movements, and by a dearth of good riders. Before 1815, American corporations derived their primary importance from the business of banking, for chartered banks supplied the country with most of its currency. The relatively slow progress of banking before 1800 reflected the restricted character of internal trade, which consisted, in the main, of the exchange of the surplus products of farms, plantations, sawmills, and the fisheries for local manufactures and imported goods. It also advanced credit to American importers and purchased American products for exportation, both on its own account and for others.
