Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson’s 1750s map of Virginia and Maryland, now on display at the Grey Art Museum, charts tobacco rivers and harbours where enslaved men load barrels. The map exposes how early Americans equated wealth with tobacco plantations, land, and enslaved labor, a stark contrast to today’s diversified portfolios.

Alice Hanson Jones’s probate records show colonists carried less than 5 % of their net worth in physical cash upon death, relying instead on shop ledgers and promissory notes. Credit, tied to personal reputation, functioned as the main liquidity for merchants, traders, and even in Alexander Hamilton.

Regional differences surfaced in debt patterns: Southern colonies, heavily dependent on tobacco, died with outstanding liabilities; Middle Colonies showed a surplus of book credits that required posthumous clearing. Meanwhile, merchants like Robert Morris seized Atlantic gold and silver, underscoring how access to hard currency shaped early American wealth.

The Declaration of Independence, framed partly by Virginia’s land disputes, shifted finance from informal credit to federally chartered banks. Alexander Hamilton’s reforms paved the way for Treasuries, while enslaved people remained a core asset until emancipation. Today’s asset mix stems from these colonial foundations, framing modern investment logic.