Data Literacy for Social Studies (based on Weber, 2006), Growth of State Banks in the United States, 1782-1861

After the War of 1812, state and federal governments rushed to build a new national infrastructure that would grow and strengthen the U.S. economy. This infrastructure included new networks of roads, canals, and railroads, but it also included a system of banks that would keep capital flowing into the economy. The number of state-chartered banks skyrocketed during the antebellum period. This graph uses data from a 2006 article by Warren E. Weber, in which he describes a dataset of all U.S. state banks from 1782 to 1861. While Weber provides state-by-state data tables on both banks and branches, we have provided a simplified table with the sum count for state-chartered banks from 1782 so that one can easily grasp the astounding growth of banks during this period of "market revolution." However, students might refer to the original table to see exactly where and when state banks appeared.