MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR March14-20

MARCH 14

1900 – US GOLD STANDARD ACT APPROVED
It established gold as the only metal standard for redeeming paper money. Populists had campaigned for several years before, culminating in the 1896 Presidential election, to include silver as a standard for redeeming paper money. Banks controlled most of the gold and thus the basis for issuing paper money. Populists wanted to expand the money supply to meet the needs of an expanding economy and country. Banks wanted to maintain control of the money supply. President William McKinley (from Canton, Ohio), strongly backed by the nation’s major corporations, signed the Act. Whether gold and/or silver, banking money with metal moved the nation further away from the Greenbacks, the debt- and interest-free currency issued as credit, of the Lincoln administration.

MARCH 15

1767 – BIRTH OF ANDREW JACKSON, SEVENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
“I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time, and am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the Bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the Bank and annul its charter I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out and, by the Eternal, I will rout you out.” 1834

Jackson successfully opposed re-chartering the private “Second Bank of the United States.” He vetoed a bill in 1832 renewing the bank’s charter (license).

MARCH 16

1751 – BIRTH OF JAMES MADISON, FOURTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
"History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling the money and its issuance."

1938 – HOUSE RESOLUTION (HR) 7230 INTRODUCED
John William Wright Patman, Democratic Congressman 1938-1978 and Chairman Committee on Banking & Currency, introduces a bill to nationalize the Federal Reserve System.

"The Federal Reserve is a total moneymaking machine. It can issue money or checks, and it never has a problem of making its checks good because it can obtain the $5 or $10 bills necessary to cover its check simply by asking the Treasury Dept's Bureau of Engraving to print them.” 1964

MARCH 18

1993 – DEATH OF KENNETH BOULDING, ECONOMIST, PROFESSOR, PEACE ACTIVIST, QUAKER
Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.
[editor: the same goes for debt]

MARCH 19

1860 – BIRTH OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN, SENATOR, SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (DEMOCRAT/POPULIST)
Bryan had originally supported the 1913 Federal Reserve Act as Secretary of State under the Wilson administration. His position was crucial in gaining the support of many Congressional Democrats and Progressives. He later regretted his decision.
"In my long career, the only thing I genuinely regret is my part in getting the banking and currency legislation enacted into law.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html Previous calendar entries are posted at http://afsc.net/monetaryhistorycalendar.html