Matthew Mees
Local Money: Currency and Credit in Colonial New England
The North American colonies were not allowed to establish banks or produce their own currencies. There were attempts, over the colonial years, to introduce coinage, paper currency and establish land-banks, which were all suppressed by Parliament. All financial transactions used British currency, at least in name. Despite these restrictions, North Americans, and New Englanders in particular, were known to live a comfortable middling-sort of life with a relatively shallow degree of income disparity. This presentation will outline the British coinage system, and looks at various currencies circulating through New England at this time. It also describes the ways the colonists worked to build a stable and prosperous economy, despite the various restrictions imposed upon them by Parliament. Resources from the 18th and recent era are offered for further study to those interested.
Matthew Mees, AB, toils in the fields as an independent researcher of pre-revolutionary New England, with a particular interest in how people, communities and regions were connected; exploring their spiritual and economic lives; their relationships with the First Peoples, the French and British and Caribbean islands. Mees researches individuals using genealogies, period newspapers, tax rolls, probate records and town meeting minutes. He travels to visit the sites, homes, graves of these people, who after all, were real people, doing real things. Mees supports his research by working as a scenic carpenter building stage sets for theaters in Boston and New York City.
