Big Apple History . Business and Politics . The Stock and Bond Exchange


	Founding the New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange can trace its roots to a humble meeting conducted between twenty-four stockbrokers on May 17, 1792. These men met underneath a famous buttonwood tree outside 68 Wall Street that many believe can still be seen! These men apparently needed a plan to handle the enormous increase in stock and bond trading that was sparked by Alexander Hamilton's decision to have the Treasury Department pay for all the debts from the Revolutionary War. The agreement they made was called the Buttonwood Agreement after the tree under which it was discussed. Later, on March 8, 1817

the organization drafted a constitution and renamed itself the New York Stock & Exchange Board, a name that was again shortened to New York Stock Exchange in 1863. The organization hoped to make wealthy men become even wealthier through investments in banks and other ventures.

Illustration: "Signing of the Buttonwood Agreement, 1792," by Vincent Maragliotti, courtesy of the New York Stock Exchange Archives.