A private
meeting, held between President Abraham Lincoln and Colonel Edmund Dick Taylor
on January 16th 1862 led to the issuance of “greenbacks”. Buffalo banker and Congressman Elbridge G
Spaulding prepared a bill to speed its issue he introduced it to Congress in
early February to permit the Unites States Treasury to issue $150 million in
legal tender notes. There was
controversy in Congress over the bill being un-Constitutional, but Spaulding
argued that the notes were a “necessary means of carrying into execution the
powers granted in the Constitution 'to raise and support armies,' and 'to
provide and maintain a navy.” President
Lincoln signed the First Legal Tender Act into law February 25th
1862 authorizing the issue of paper currency.
1 comment:
Insterestingly, you post an image of a demand note, issued in 1861.....
the bill (H.R. 240) was reported in the House on January 7th, a week before Lincoln spoke to his Dick
http://www.yamaguchy.com/forum/index.php?topic=2.0
Post a Comment