160 Hadden—Early Banking in Wisconsin. 
quently twice and in many instances three times the amount of 
nominal capital of such banks. ” 
Mr. Gallatin says: “From the first of January, 1811, to the 
first of January, 1815, not less than 120 new banks went into 
operation, adding nearly $30,000,000 to the banking capital of 
the country.” In 1816 the issue of notes was $68,000,000. 
From 1816 to 1820 there was a general suspension of specie 
payments, accompanied by a large number of commercial fail¬ 
ures and the evil results of a depreciated currency. The banks 
contracted their issues until in 1820, there was in circulation 
only $44,863,344 of bank notes. Discounts and loans were de¬ 
creased; debts were contracted under this depreciated paper 
regime, which, after 1820, became payable at par. One hun¬ 
dred and sixty-five banks failed between January first, 1811, 
and July first, 1830. On a total bank capital of $140,000,000, 
the failures amounted to $30,000,000, or more than one-fifth of 
the whole. Mr. Knox ascribes the distress and failures to “the 
excessive number of state banks and their improvident issues. ” 
Below are appended two tables giving the number and condi¬ 
tion of the state banks in the United States from 1774 to 1840: 
Year. 
No. of 1 
banks, j 
Metallic 
medium, mil¬ 
lions. 
Paper cur¬ 
rency, mil¬ 
lions. 
Capital, 
millions. 
1774. 
1 
4 
1781...... 
3 
10 
2 
2.1 
1790. 
4 
9 
2.5 
2.5 
1791. 
6 
16 
9 
12.9 
1792. 
16 
18 
11.5 
17.1 
1793. 
17 
20 
11 
18 
1791... 
17 
21.5 
11.6 
18 
1795.......... . 
23 
19 
11 
19 
1796... 
24 
16.5 
10.5 
19.2 
1797. 
25 
16 
10 
19.2 
1798.. 
25 
14 
9 
19.2 
1799... 
26 
17 
10 
21.2 
1800. .. 
28 
17.5 
10.5 
21.8 
1801. 
31 
17 
11 
22.4 
1802. 
32 
16.5 
10 
22.6 
1803... 
36 
16 
11 
26 
18043.. 
59 
17.5 
14 
39.5 
8 Table from 1744 to 1804, taken from Blodgett’s Economica, 1806. 
