Stock exchanges have a long history in the United States. In 1790, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, originally named the Board of Brokers of Philadelphia, was founded. Two years later saw another big competitor—the New York Stock Exchange.

New York Stock Exchange

The history of the New York Stock Exchange External begins with the signing of the Buttonwood Agreement by twenty-four New York City stockbrokers and merchants on May 17, 1792, outside of 68 Wall Street under a Buttonwood tree. In the beginning there were five securities traded in New York City with the first listed company on the NYSE being the Bank of New York.

The 24 brokers who signed the agreement, thus becoming the first NYSE members, included individuals as well as firms like Armstrong & Barnewell (William Armstrong, George Barnewell). The full list is as follows:

(Source: The NYSE Euronext Archived Web Site: History External)

American Stock Exchange

The American Stock Exchange (AMEX) got its start in the 1800's and was known as the "Curb Exchange" until 1921 because it met as a market at the curbstone on Broad Street near Exchange Place. Its founding date is generally considered as 1921 because this is the year when it moved into new quarters on Trinity. However, it wasn't until 1953 that it officially became the American Stock Exchange. Founded by the National Association of Securities Dealers, the NASDAQ began trading on February 8, 1971, as the world's first electronic stock market, trading for over 2,500 securities. In November 1998, the National Association of Security Dealers announced that the American Stock Exchange would merge with the National Association of Securities Dealers creating "The Nasdaq-Amex Market Group." However, the American Stock Exchange remained as an active exchange and was bought by the NYSE Group and is now known as NYSE American.

The twenty-first century brought more changes to the U.S. exchanges as shown in the timeline below.