Barter accounting in the US during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries

Abstract

This paper considers barter accounting as practised in the US during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Different types of barter are described and illustrated. Background on the economic environment during these periods that was conducive to barter arrangements is furnished. Examples are provided of actual barter transactions taken from account books in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Furthermore, contemporary barter accounting and taxation practices are outlined and found to exhibit significant complexity. To understand such accounting, it is necessary to examine any surviving backup records, which underlie the account book transactions.