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Three pence issued by the Bank of North America on August 6, 1789, printed by Benjamin Franklin Bache on marbled paper obtained by Benjamin Franklin. [6]In May 1781, Alexander Hamilton revealed that he had recommended Robert Morris for the position of Superintendent of Finance of the United States the previous summer when the constitution of the Articles of Confederation-era executive was ...
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The First Bank of the United States was modeled after the Bank of England and differed in many ways from today's central banks. For example, it was partly owned by foreigners, who shared in its profits. Also, it was not solely responsible for the country's supply of bank notes. It was responsible for only 20% of the currency supply; state banks ...
These banks could issue bank notes against specie (gold and silver coins) and the states regulated the reserve requirements, interest rates for loans and deposits, the necessary capital ratio etc. Free banking spread rapidly to other states, and from 1840 to 1863 all banking business was done by state-chartered institutions.
Of note during this period were agitation by the Whig Party for a central bank and a flirtation with the Treasury Notes as currency. Particularly controversial was an issue by Secretary Spencer of about $850,000 of Treasury Notes endorsed with a promise for immediate repurchase, principal and interest, by the sub-treasury in New York at par in ...
The bank was funded in part by bullion coins loaned to the United States by France. [58] Morris helped finance the final stages of the war by issuing notes in his name, backed by his personal line of credit, which was further backed by a French loan of $450,000 in silver coins. [59]
Numerous banks that were started during this period ultimately proved to be unstable. [6] In many Western states, the banking industry degenerated into "wildcat" banking because of the laxity and abuse of state laws. Bank notes were issued against little or no security, and credit was over extended; depressions brought waves of bank failures.
In 1861 the U.S. began issuing United States Notes as legal tender. [128] Banks began paying interest on deposits and using the proceeds to make short term call loans, mainly to stock brokers. [118] New York banks created a clearing house association in 1853 in which member banks cleared accounts with other city banks at the close of the week ...