to pick a nit, inflation between 1800 and 1899 varied from as high as +25% (around 1865) to as low as -14% (about 1805). The 1800's were a time of extreme economic volatility in the USA: a few dozen financial panics; crazy economic bubbles; waves of bank failures every few years; astounding opportunities for enrichment, etc. It was the best of times and the worst of times.