AS

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”