Book reviews [1984, Vol. 11, no. 1]

              The Accounting Historians Journal Vol. 11, No. 1 Spring 1984
BOOK REVIEWS
Linda H. Kistler, Editor
UNIVERSITY OF LOWELL
Donald R. Adams, Jr., Finance and Enterprise in Early America: A Study of Stephen Girard's Bank 1812-1831 (University of Pennsylva-nia Press, 1978, pp. 173, price not available).
Reviewed by Michelle Hamer University of Maryland
Steven Girard was a wealthy Philadelphian with extensive inter-ests in shipping and trade between the U.S. and Europe. Economic instability in Europe resulting from the Napoleonic Wars and the uncertainty of international trade caused by imminent war between the U.S. and Britain led Girard to liquidate his European assets and repatriate the resulting funds in the years 1808-1812. He used this money to establish a large, unchartered, private (as opposed to cor-porate) bank. His bank was opposed by the state chartered banks already in existence. This book describes the bank's operations from its establishment in 1812 to its closing in 1831 immediately after Girard's death.
Although this is the history of a single bank, the book provides considerable insight into banking legislation, the relationship be-tween the state and federal governments, and banking practices of the period. During the early years of the bank's existence, Girard was involved in a variety of attempts to influence banking legisla-tion at both the federal and state levels. During this period, federal legislation forbidding noncorporate banks, state legislation forbid-ding nonchartered banks, and tax legislation providing for higher taxes for noncorporate than for corporate banks were proposed. Girard attempted to persuade his powerful friends to block legisla-tion harmful to his bank. Girard's bank made a large investment in U.S. bonds used to finance the War of 1812. In return for this, his bank was made a depository bank for the U.S. Treasury and notes on his bank were accepted in payment of debts owed to the Trea-sury. The Treasury's financial problems during this period, high-