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Bank of the United States
This Bank of the United States recieved a charter in 1791 from Congress, and it was signed by President Washington. The person that promoted this bank the most was the secretary of treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton was a federalist and he always favored for there to be a strong national government. This bank collected fees and made payments on behalf of the federal government, but it collapsed becuase the state banks opposed it since they thought it gave too much power to the national govt. -
Second Bank of the United States
This bank was chartered in 1816. It failed because it did not regulate state banks or charter any other banks. Therefore, the state banks were issuing their own currency which was causing a big problem because the consisteny between the states was getting harder. -
Civil War
The federal government did not print paper currency untill the Civil War. The northern states needed currency and because of this, Congress passed a law that authorized the printing of money. -
National Banking Act
With this National Banking Act of 1963, Banks could have a state or federal charter which was dual banking. It also created the United States National Banking System. -
Federal Reserve Act
Signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, this act created our National Bank. It was intended to create a form of economic stability through the introduction of this central bank, making it be in charge of the monetary policy in the United States. -
1930's Great Deppresion
This Great Deppresion of the 1930's caused banks to collapse. Therefore, President FDR declared a "bank holiday" where the banks were closed. The only banks that could reopen were the ones that could prove that they were financially stable, this boosted the nations confidence in the american banking system. -
Glass-Steagall Banking Act
The Glass-Steagall Banking Act was created in 1933 and established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, it also ensured that if a bank goes under, your money will still be yours. But, in the 1970's Congress relaxed restrictions on the banks which was bad, because interest rates were fairly high during this time. -
Banking Problems
Congress allowed the Savings and Loans banks to make high risk loans and investments. The consequences were that... investments went bad, banks failed, the federal government had to give investors their money back, the feedral debt raised to $200 billion, and the FDIC had to take over the Savings and Loans banks. -
Gramm-Leach Bliley Act
This act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton and it allowed banks to have more control over banking, insurace and securities. But it had some cons, like it made less competition, it could have lead to form a universal bank, and could have lead to more sharing of information which would reduce privacy.
