This index compares the amount it would cost to buy $100 worth of goods in 1860 with the cost in the following years. For example, these commodities would cost S28 more in 1783 than in 1860. Higher prices are not necessarily bad; since many of the commodities used to make the index were farm products and since most Americans were farmers, higher prices on this index generally meant prosperity, and lower prices meant hard times. From this index, for example, we see that prices fell in the late. 1780s, a period of depression; began to rise again after the new Constitution took effect; and jumped after 1 793 when American merchants capitalized on the war between France and England.

 Year C.P.I. 1783 $128 1784 123 1785 117 1786 114 1787 112 1788 107 1789 106 1790 110 1 7 9 1 113 1792 ' 115 1793 119 1794 132 1795 151 1796 159 1797 153 1798 148 1799 148 1800 151 1801 153 1802 129 1803 136 1804 142 1805 141 1806 147 1807 139 1808 151 1809 148 1810 148 1811 158 1812 160 1813 192 1814 211 1815 185 

Source:

John J. McCusker, How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical...