Talk No 1 (350 words)

A university professor is speaking on the first period in the history of American money and banking system.

Good morning. The subject of my lecture, as it has been announced, will be devoted to the history of American money and banking systems. I will start by saying that the history of American money and banking is interwoven with the history of the United States.

First of all I'd like to point out that the American monetary and banking systems have gone through three periods of development. During each of these periods, stability and progress in the nation's money and banking systems has increased.

Today I am going to speak about the first period, which lasted from the 1780s to 1860. It was a time of experimentation and debate in American banking. During this period, money and banking were part of a large battle between Federalists and advocates of states' rights.

Federalists, such as Alexander Hamilton, believed that a strong, centralized banking system was necessary if the United States expected to develop its industries and commerce. As Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton proposed that a national bank have the power to handle the government's funds, charter and monitor other banks throughout the country, and issue currency.

Advocates of states' rights, such as Thomas Jefferson, opposed the national bank because they feared that the concentration of economic power at the national level would weaken the economic and political power of individual states. Jefferson supported a decentralized banking system in which the states, rather than the federal government, would charter and regulate the banks within their borders.

In this battle Hamilton's views prevailed. In 1791 Congress established the First Bank of the United States as a private business. Its Charter, or legal permission to operate, outlined the bank's responsibilities, which included the issuing of representative money in the form of banknotes. These banknotes were backed by gold and silver specie.

A year later, Congress established a national coinage system, and the federal government began to mint gold and silver coins. It also established the dollar as the official unit of currency.

The First Bank of the United States brought some order to monetary and banking systems in the United States

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<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MONEY ANDBANKING	\|	Talk No 2 (368 words)

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