Home › Timeline › The Seat Moves to the Bench › Greenbacks and the national banks
To pay for the Civil War, Congress makes paper United States notes legal tender in February 1862 and creates nationally chartered banks in February 1863, issuing notes secured by government bonds. Lincoln's annual message of December 1862 explains why.
The mechanism
WAR FINANCE — paper money and national banks to pay for a war
How it was checked
- EvidenceT7 PRIMARY DOCUMENT / MEASUREMENT; Status: ADDED 2026-09-19
- Letter eraTHE SEAT MOVES TO THE BENCH 1713 to 1945
- SourcesPRIMARY — the Legal Tender Act (25 Feb 1862); the National Currency Act (25 Feb 1863); Lincoln, Second Annual Message, 1 Dec 1862 (American Presidency Project)
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