First Bank of the United States

First Bank of United States
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
The First Bank of the United States east façade.
Location	120 South Third Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Built	1791
Architect	Samuel Blodgett, possibly with James Hoban
Architectural style	Early Republic, Other
NRHP reference No.	87001292
Added to NRHP	May 4, 1987

The First Bank of the United States was a central bank, chartered for a term of twenty years, by the United States Congress on February 25, 1791. Establishment of the Bank was included in a three-part expansion of Federal fiscal and monetary power (along with a federal mint and excise taxes) championed by Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton believed a central bank was necessary to stabilize and improve the nation's credit, and to improve handling of the financial business of the United States government under the newly enacted Constitution.

Officially proposed to the first session of the First Congress in 1790, Hamilton's Bank faced widespread resistance from opponents of increased Federal power. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and James Madison led the opposition, which claimed that the bank was unconstitutional, and that it benefited merchants and investors at the expense of the majority of the population.

The First Bank building is now a National Historic Landmark located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania within Independence National Historical Park.

Relation to Hamilton's other economic policies

In 1791, The first Bank of the United States was brought into being as one of three major financial innovations proposed and supported by Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury. In addition to the national bank, the other two measures were establishment of a mint and imposition of a federal excise tax. Three goals of Hamilton's three measures were to:

• Establish financial order, clarity and precedence in and of the newly formed United States.
• Establish credit—both in country and overseas—for the new nation.
• To resolve the issue of the fiat currency, issued by the Continental Congress immediately prior to and during the United States Revolutionary War—the "Continental".

Hamilton's plan

"[A] national bank ... was not essential to the work of the Federal Government ... This was ... only a measure for carrying out the interests of wealthy men with those of the government."

From William Graham Sumner's Alexander Hamilton

"The tendency of a national bank is to increase public and private credit. The former gives power to the state for the protection of its rights and interests, and the latter facilitates and extends the operations of commerce amongst individuals."

Alexander Hamilton, December, 1790 report to George Washington

According to the plan put before the first session of the First Congress, Hamilton proposed establishing the initial funding for the Bank of the United States through the sale of $10 million in stock of which the United States government would purchase the first $2 million in shares. Hamilton, foreseeing the objection that this could not be done since the U.S. government didn't have $2 million, proposed that the government make the stock purchase using money lent to it by the Bank; the loan to be paid back in ten equal annual installments. The remaining $8 million of stock would be available to the public, both in the United States and overseas. The chief requirement of these non-government purchases was that one-quarter of the purchase price had to be paid in gold or silver; the remaining balance could be paid in bonds, acceptable scrip, etc.

By continuously insisting on these conditions, the Bank of the United States might technically possess $500,000 in "real" money that it could, and would, use as security to make loans up to its capitalized limit of $10 million. However, unlike the Bank of England from which Hamilton drew much of his inspiration, the primary function of the Bank would be commercial and private interests. The business it would be involved in on behalf of the federal government—a depository for collected taxes, making short term loans to the government to cover real or potential temporary income gaps, serving as a holding site for both incoming and outgoing monies—was considered highly important but still secondary in nature.

There were other, nonnegotiable conditions for the establishment of the Bank of the United States. Among these were:

• That the Bank was to be a private company.
• That the Bank would have a twenty year charter running from 1791 to 1811, after which time it would be up to the Congress to renew or deny renewal of the bank and its charter; however, during that time no other federal bank would be authorized; states, for their part, would be free to charter however many intrastate banks they wished.
• That the Bank, to avoid any appearance of impropriety, would:

1. be forbidden to buy government bonds.
2. have a mandatory rotation of directors.
3. neither issue notes nor incur debts beyond its actual capitalization.

• That foreigners, whether overseas or residing in the United States, would be allowed to be Bank of the United States stockholders, but would not be allowed to vote.
• That the Secretary of the Treasury would be free to remove government deposits, inspect the books, and require statements regarding the bank's condition as frequently as once a week.

To ensure that the government could meet both the current and future demands of its governmental accounts, an additional source of funding was required, "for interest payments on the assumed state debts would begin to fall due at the end of 1791...those payments would require $788,333 annually, and... an additional $38,291 was needed to cover deficiencies in the funds that had been appropriated for existing commitments." To achieve this, Hamilton repeated a suggestion he had made nearly a year before—increase the duty on imported spirits, plus raise the excise tax on domestically distilled whiskey and other liquors. Local opposition to the tax led to the Whiskey Rebellion.

Opposition

"Hamilton’s financial system had then passed. It had two objects; 1st, as a puzzle, to exclude popular understanding and inquiry; 2nd, as a machine for the corruption of the legislature; for he avowed the opinion, that man could be governed by one of two motives only, force or interest; force, he observed, in this country was out of the question, and the interests, therefore, of the members must be laid hold of, to keep the legislative in unison with the executive. And with grief and shame it must be acknowledged that his machine was not without effect; that even in this, the birth of our government, some members were found sordid enough to bend their duty to their interests, and to look after personal rather than public good.

"It is well known that during the war the greatest difficulty we encountered was the want of money or means to pay our soldiers who fought, or our farmers, manufacturers and merchants, who furnished the necessary supplies of food and clothing for them. After the expedient of paper money had exhausted itself, certificates of debt were given to the individual creditors, with assurance of payment so soon as the United States should be able. But the distresses of [p. 272] these people often obliged them to part with these for the half, the fifth, and even a tenth of their value; and speculators had made a trade of cozening them from the practices, and persuasions that they would never be paid. In the bill for funding and pen15 Hamilton made no difference between the original holders and the fraudulent purchasers of this paper. "

Thomas Jefferson, February 4th entry in The Anas

Like most of the Southern members of Congress (indeed like most members of Congress in general), neither Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson nor Representative James Madison had any particular interest in two of Hamilton's tripartite recommendations: the establishing of an official government Mint, and the chartering of the Bank of the United States. They believed this centralization of power away from private banks was dangerous to a sound monetary system and was mostly to the benefit of business interests in the commercial north, not southern agricultural interests. They furthermore argued that the creation of such a bank violated the Constitution, which did not list the creation of a Bank of the United States or of a government mint among the expressed powers allowed to the federal government.

The first part of the bill, the concept and establishment of a national mint, met with no real objection, and sailed through; it was assumed the second and third part (the Bank and an excise tax to finance it) would likewise glide through, and in their own way they did: The House version of the bill, despite some heated objections, easily passed. The Senate version of the bill did likewise, with considerably fewer, and milder, objections. It was when "the two bills changed houses, complications set in. In the Senate, Hamilton's supporters objected to the House's alteration of the plans for the excise tax."

The establishment of the bank also raised early questions of constitutionality in the new government. Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury, argued that the Bank was an effective means to utilize the authorized powers of the government implied under the law of the Constitution. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson argued that the Bank violated traditional property laws and that its relevance to constitutionally authorized powers was weak. Another argument came from James Madison, who believed Congress had not received the power to incorporate a bank; or any other governmental agency. His argument rested on his belief that if the Constitution's writers had wanted Congress to have such power they would have made it explicit in the Constitution. The decision ultimately fell to President George Washington.

Presidential approval

George Washington initially declared that he was hesitant to sign the "bank bill" into law. Washington asked for a written opinion from all his cabinet members—most particularly from Hamilton. Attorney General Edmund Randolph from Virginia felt that the bill was unconstitutional. Jefferson, also from Virginia, agreed that Hamilton's proposal was against both the spirit and letter of the Constitution. Hamilton, who, unlike his fellow cabinet members, hailed from New York, quickly responded to those who claimed incorporation of the bank unconstitutional. While Hamilton's rebuttals were many and varied, chief among them were these two:

• What the government could do for a person (incorporate), it could not refuse to do for an "artificial person", a business. And the Bank of the United States, being privately owned and not a government agency, was a business. "Thus...unquestionably incident to sovereign power to erect corporations to that of the United States, in relation to the objects entrusted to the management of the government."
• Any government by its very nature to be mean was sovereign "and includes by force of the term a right to attainment of the ends...which are not precluded by restrictions & exceptions specified in the constitution...

On April 25, 1791, Washington signed the "bank bill" into law.

Expiration of charter

After Hamilton left office in 1795, the new Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott, Jr. informed Congress that due to the existing state of government finances more money was needed. This could be achieved either by selling the government's shares of stock in the Bank, or raising taxes. Wolcott advised the first choice. Congress quickly agreed. Hamilton objected, believing that the dividends on that stock had been inviolably pledged for the support of the sinking fund to retire the debt. Hamilton tried to organize opposition to the measure, but was unsuccessful. The bank's charter expired in 1811. It followed the Bank of North America and it was succeeded by the Second Bank of the United States.

Purchase by Girard

After the charter for the First Bank of the United States expired in 1811, Stephen Girard purchased most of its stock as well as the building and its furnishings on South Third Street in Philadelphia and opened his own bank, later known as Girard Bank. Over its early history the bank was known as “Girard’s Bank,” or as “Girard Bank” or also as “Stephen Girard’s Bank” or even the “Bank of Stephen Girard.” Girard was the sole proprietor of his bank, and thus avoided the Pennsylvania state law which prohibited an unincorporated association of persons from establishing a bank, and required a charter from the legislature for a banking corporation.

Girard hired George Simpson, the cashier of the First Bank, as cashier of the new bank, and with seven other employees, opened for business on May 18, 1812. He allowed the Trustees of the First Bank of the United States to use some offices and space in the vaults to continue the process of winding down the affairs of the closed bank at a very nominal rent.

Bank building

The First Bank of the United States in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Bank of the United States was established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania while the city served as the temporary national capital, 1790–1800. In the eighteenth century, Philadelphia was one of the largest cities in the English-speaking world. The bank began operations in Carpenters' Hall in 1791, some 200 feet from its permanent home.

Design of the bank building is credited to Samuel Blogdett, Superintendent of Buildings for the new capital in Washington, DC., although it has also been attributed to James Hoban. It was completed in 1797.

The First Bank of the United States was listed as a National Historic Landmark on May 4, 1987. Until about 2000, it housed offices for Independence National Historical Park. A proposal to have it house the collection of the Philadelphia Civil War Museum was abandoned when State funding was not forthcoming. Future plans are for it to house the National Park Service archaeology lab, currently across the street from it in the old Visitor Center.

• 
  East (front) elevation.
• 
  South (side) elevation.
• 
  North (side) elevation.
• 
  West (rear) elevation.

See also

• Bank Bill of 1791
• Federal Reserve Act
• History of central banking in the United States
• Second Bank of the United States
• Thomas Willing, first President of the Bank, 1793–1807
• United States Department of the Treasury

Further reading

• Danzer, Gerald A. The Americans. ISBN 0-618-37716-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Markham, Jerry (2001). A Financial History of the United States. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0765607301.
• Wilson, George (1995). Stephen Girard. Conshohocken: Combined Books. ISBN 093828956X.
• Rothbard, Murray (2002). A History of Money and Banking in the United States: The Colonial Era to World War II. Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig Von Mises Inst. ISBN 978-0945466338.

External links

• First and Second Banks of the United States – a digital collection of the original documents related to the formation of the First (1791–1811) and Second (1816–1836) Banks of the United States, digitized by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
• HABS photos of the First Bank
• Hamilton's opinion
• Jefferson's opinion
• Record of the Debate