The Communications Revolution

The Communications Revolution

• the US post office   * massive organization     * bigger than peacetime military and rest of federal bureaucracy combined   * mostly transported newspapers (discounted rates)   * a national information network
• print media industry grew massively, helped buy new technology
• telegraph invented 1845, eastern cities linked by 1860s

Banking and Finance

• first bank of the US expired 1811
• second bank of the US started in 1816, 20 year charter   * backed hundreds of state-chartered banks   * widespread access to credit
• western farmers/planters linked to creditors in NY, London, and beyond
• first modern business corporations   * previously, only for “public good” projects   * incorporation limited investors’ and operators’ personal liability for company debt which meant lower risk

Financial “Panics”

• new finance system was unstable: boom and bust cycles
• over speculation on commodities, led to “Panics” and economic depressions   * panic of 1819, land   * panic of 1837, land and slaves   * panic of 1857, railroad bonds
• emerging nation of “the economy”

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