Chapter XXII. Of Banking from 1828–29 to 1832–33.
Towards the close of the year 1829, money became plenty. For this various causes may be assigned. One of the chief was the extensive dealings of the United States’ Bank.
Chapter XXIII. Extent of Banking Operations at different periods
For many years a veil of mystery was thrown over the operations of the Banks. Mr. Bland, a member of Congress from Maryland, in a speech made previous to the dissolution of the old Bank of the United States, said, “The nature of the loans, the deposits, and all the bargains, dealings, and contrivances, between the Government and the Bank, are wholly invisible to the public.”
Chapter XXIV. General Reflections
Our American Bankers have found that for which the ancient alchymists sought in vain; they have found that which turns every thing into gold—in their own pockets; and it is difficult to persuade them that a system which is so very beneficial to themselves, can be very injurious to the rest of the community.
Appendix.—Bank of North America
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Bank of North America.Minutes of the Assembly, March 21, 1785.
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The Origins of the Federal Reserve
Title Page
THE ORIGINS OF THE
FEDERAL RESERVE
_____ by ______
MURRAY ROTHBARD
Copyright Page
Selected from
A HISTORY OF MONEY AND BANKING IN THE UNITED
STATES: THE COLONIAL ERA TO WORLD WAR II
© 2009 by the Ludwig von Mises Institute and published under the
Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
The Progressive Movement
The Progressive Movement
The Federal Reserve Act of December 23, 1913, was part and parcel of the wave of Progressive legislation, on local, state, and federal levels of government, that began about 1900. Progressivism was a bipartisan movement which, in the course of the first two decades of the twentieth century, transformed the American economy and society from one of roughly laissez-faire to one of centralized statism.
Unhappiness with the National Banking System
Unhappiness with the National Banking System
The previous big push for statism in America had occurred during the Civil War, when the virtual one-party Congress after secession of the South emboldened the Republicans to enact their cherished statist program under cover of the war. The alliance of big business and big government with the Republican Party drove through an income tax, heavy excise taxes on such sinful products as tobacco and alcohol, high protective tariffs, and huge land grants and other subsidies to transcontinental railroads.
