Eyewitness To Wall Street: 400 Years Of Dreamers, Schemers, Busts And Booms

part one Financing the New World "The prodigious increase of the Netherlanders in their domestic and foreign trade, riches, and multitude of shipping is the envy of the present, and may be the wonder of all future generations." Josiah Child, 1688 Timeline 1519 -- Spain conquers Mexico, rich in gold and silver--Spanish reals will be most trusted currency in early U.S. 1519 -- Bohemia mints thaler (origin of "dollar") 1531 -- First European stock exchange opens in Belgium 1602 -- Hot IPO is Dutch East India Co., first modern public company. Double-digit yields until dissolution in 1799 1606 -- Virginia Company of London granted charter 1611 -- Dutch develop stock exchanges 1625 -- New Amsterdam settled 1637 -- Height of Tulipmania in Holland; single flower bulbs trade for large fortunes 1653 -- 12-foot-high wall built across lower Manhattan 1666 -- Trader corners wampum by burying it, price quadruples 1675 -- Fishing company becomes first corporation in America 1685 -- Path behind city wall becomes Wall Street 1690 -- Massachusetts issues first paper money in colonies 1694 -- Bank of England established 1698 -- Trinity Church opens March 13 1720 -- Mississippi and South Sea bubbles pop--crises in French and British economies 1721 -- First American insurance company is established in Philadelphia 1729 -- Ben Franklin prints money for Pennsylvania the scene in the 1600s New Amsterdam Arnoldus Montanus Montanus, a Dutch trader, saw the town in 1670. On the Manhattans island stands New Amsterdam, five miles from the Ocean. Ships run up to the harbor there from the sea with one tide. The city hath an earthen fort. Within the fort, and on the outermost bastion towards the river, stand a windmill, and a very high staff, on which a flag is hoisted whenever any vessels are seen in Godyn's bay. The church rises with a double roof between which a square tower looms aloft. On one side is the prison, on the other side of the church the governor's house. Without the walls are the houses mostly by Amsterdamers. On the river side stand the gallows and whipping post. A handsome, public tavern adorns the farthest point. Between this fort and this tavern is a row of suitable dwelling houses: among which stand out the warehouses of the West India Company. From the First IPO to the South Sea Bubble, 1621-1720 Josef de la Vega & Daniel Defoe From the start, European settlement of New York was a publicly traded commercial venture. The colony of New Netherlands and its capital of New Amsterdam were established by the Dutch West India Company in 1621. "West," as the company was known, was one of the blue-chip stocks of the Amsterdam Exchange, the most sophisticated in Europe. ("East," the Dutch East India Company, was formed to trade in Asia.) In contrast, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania were religious sanctuaries; Virginia was owned by a private consortium that soon failed and became sponsored by the Crown. The Dutch colonists were granted more freedom than their British neighbors, many of whom lived as little better than employees. The Dutch colonists were also given an opportunity that has become deeply imbedded in American culture: indebting themselves to buy stock. New Amsterdam was the perfect spot for traders and merchants. The huge harbor, though well protected, is just a quick sail from the open sea--closer than Philadelphia to the ocean, safer than Boston. Just as important, the Dutch emphasis on fair trade allowed commerce from various European colonies and Caribbean islands to pass through New Amsterdam. Although the town was practical and unpretentious--it would trail Philadelphia and Boston in sophistication for a couple of centuries--other nations took notice of the DutColbert, David is the author of 'Eyewitness To Wall Street: 400 Years Of Dreamers, Schemers, Busts And Booms' with ISBN 9780767906609 and ISBN 0767906608.