Summary

Chapter One describes the history of Wall Street and its early role in the banking system. Manhattan, where the actual Wall Street is located, was a Dutch settlement before being turned over to the British in 1664. Wall Street traces the path of an actual wall the Dutch constructed to protect their colony. The British removed the wall and the street was the site of several government buildings, a center of merchant activity, and the location a major slave market. Immediately following the American Revolution, Wall Street and New York City, generally, declined in importance relative to Philadelphia, where the country’s nascent government and first commercial banks were developed. Wall Street was revived in the 1780s however, when New York became the nation’s capital. It hosted the first Congress and the inauguration of George Washington.

At the time, one of New York...