Robert E. Wright. The First Wall Street: Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, & The Birth of American Finance

The First Wall Street is Robert Wright's latest installmentin his campaign to highlight financial institutions as the drivingforce in the economic and political history of the Early Republic.Wright reminds us that prior to Wall Street's ascendance inthe 1830s, Chestnut Street in Philadelphia was the nation'sfinancial center and the birthplace of some of America's mostimportant financial innovations. Wright argues that despite its physical disadvantages as a port,Philadelphia thrived because its climate of