Wall Street

There are varying accounts about how the Dutch-named "de Waal Straat"[12] got its name. A generally accepted version is that the name of the street was derived from an earthen wall on the northernboundary of the New Amsterdam settlement, perhaps to protect against English colonial encroachment or incursions by native Americans. A conflicting explanation is that Wall Street was named afterWalloons -- possibly a Dutch abbreviation for Walloon being Waal.[13] Among the first settlers that embarked on the ship "Nieu Nederlandt" in 1624 were 30 Walloon families.

In the 1640s, basic picket andplank fences denoted plots and residences in the colony.[14] Later, on behalf of the Dutch West India Company, Peter Stuyvesant, using both African slaves[15] and white colonists, collaborated withthe city government in the construction of a more substantial fortification, a strengthened 12-foot (4 m) wall.[16] In 1685 surveyors laid out Wall Street along the lines of the original stockade.[16]The wall started at Pearl Street, which was the shoreline at that time, crossing the Indian path Broadway and ending at the other shoreline (today's Trinity Place), where it took a turn south and ranalong the shore until it ended at the old fort. In these early days, local merchants and traders would gather at disparate spots to buy and sell shares and bonds, and over time divided themselves intotwo classes—auctioneers and dealers.[17] Wall Street was also the marketplace where owners could hire out their slaves by the day or week.[18] The rampart was removed in 1699.[13]

In the late 18thcentury, there was a buttonwood tree at the foot of Wall Street under which traders and speculators would gather to trade securities.[19] The benefit was being in close proximity to each other.[19]In 1792, traders formalized their association with the Buttonwood Agreement which was the origin of the New York Stock Exchange.[20] The idea of the agreement was to make the market more "structured"...