Key cases: Thomas v. Dakin – New York, 1839 (22 Wendell 81); Warner v. Beers – New York, 1840 (23 Wendell 103); DeBow v. People – New York, 1845 (1 Denio 13); Gifford v. Livingston – New York, 1845 (2 Denio 380)
| New York branch of Bank of the United States (1827) - courtesy New York Public Library Banknote, New Jersey Merchants Bank (1861) - courtesy New York Public Library “The excess of banking, and the impure obtaining of bank charters, were the evils the [1821 constitutional] convention sought to remedy.” – Senator Eleazer Root, in Warner “I cannot conceive any law less in hostility to the design of the constitution in this regard, or in effect more conformable to its spirit … It opens to all persons, without inquiring whether they are friends or foes of the ruling powers, the business of banking and the issuing of paper currency.” – Senator Gulian Verplanck, in Warner “I hope the day is not very distant when this, and other kindred laws, which needlessly shackle men in their lawful pursuits, will either be greatly modified, or wholly erased from the statute book. I as … a believer in the sentiment that the people are governed too much.” - Justice Greene Bronson, in DeBow |
EMPIRE OF LAWS - The Legal History of the 50 American States > 2. MID-ATLANTIC LEGAL HISTORY > 2.3. The Mid-Atlantic States: The Antebellum Era (1825-1865) > 2.3.1. The Mid-Atlantic States (1825-1865): Law and the Transportation Revolution > 2.3.2. The Mid-Atlantic States (1825-1865): The Cradle of Corporate America >