The First Colonial Currency By The Massachusetts Bay Colony

To understand the reason, and perhaps necessity, for the conception of the Currency act of 1764, one must have a grasp of the economic situation in the American colonies prior to 1764. The currency used in the American colonies has always revolved around, specie or the two types of paper currency, legislatively issued legal tender or land bank notes (Finkelstein 39). Foreign specie was far more common than British specie, due to an export prohibition of British specie and an unfavorable balance of trade between the American colonies and Britain that drained whatever British specie

The United States Mint was created by Congress in 1792, tasked with creating and circulating official coinage. The Mint had the authority to convert any precious metals, like gold or silver, into standard coinage for anyone 's account with no charge. President George Washington and Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton asked Congress to pass the Coinage Act of 1792, which established the dollar as the basic unit of money for the United States. The word “dollar” is prounounced from the German word “thaler”, which means “coin”. Because of the lack of silver and gold mines in the United States, currency from other countries was allowed to be used to buy and sell goods and services until 1857, when silver and gold mines started to generate sufficient metal. In 1863, the National Banking Act was signed by President Abraham Lincoln, making the dollar the sole currency of the United States.

After the victory towards French in the Seven Years War, the political and social relationship of the colonists and Great Britain had shifted to a different direction. The colonists began to think of themselves as Americans. At that time, The British government felt that the colonies had become quite independence, and they wanted their colonies to start paying tax in order to help England pay the national debt. Not only were Americans forced to pay direct taxes, but they were also obliged to involve in strict regulatory acts such as Sugar Act and Currency Act. Sugar Act (1764) strongly affected American’s trading in which their oceanic vessels and cargos could be inspected by the British Navy and might be confiscated if the paper and the goods that being transported were in disagreement. Currency Act (1764) restricted colonial governments to print their own paper money. These two acts put some colonists in anger but they were not enough to result in civil disorder until the Stamp Act was passed. The reason that the colonists resisted government authority with the passage of the Stamp Act (1765) was because the Stamp Act collected taxes in all type of papers including newspapers, playing cards, licenses, and stamps. This outraged many colonists especially the educated and

In 1776, the original thirteen colonies officially declared their independence from Great Britain after the American revolution. This fight for freedom was not an easy one however and was brought on by a chain of events following the French and Indian War in 1754. After fighting in the French and Indian War, Great Britain had greatly over-extended itself, causing a period of severe debt. To cope with this debt, Parliament started trying to generate revenue for the country; one way this was done was though the passing of acts. In 1764, under the order of George Grenville, Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, the Sugar Act and the Currency Act were implemented. These two acts were consumption taxes on sugar and printing currency, respectively. Not too long after these acts were passed, the Stamp Act of 1765 occurred, requiring colonists to pay for an official seal to have their mail sent. After this act was passed, colonists were becoming angry that they were being taxed on nearly everything. This anger led to the

Since the government could not tax, they were in major financial trouble. They began to print continentals which were not backed by any commodities so they were worthless. The rest of the world meanwhile was waiting to see how Britain would react; so they were afraid to get too friendly with the colonists. The colonists though, knew that it was time to build up trade and trust with other countries. Eventually, their financial plans fell through, so France and the Netherlands made loans and were able to help keep the United States afloat.

The penny, also known simply as the one-cent coin, was first made about 230 years ago in 1787. The first penny ever made was 100% copper and it was heavier and larger than the usual penny today. The design itself was suggested by the famous Benjamin Franklin ("A Brief History of the U.S. Cent”). Lately, people have talked about the idea of abolishing the penny, but others disagree. The penny should not be abolished.

This act not only brought anger in colonists it also brought tighten the English reign on the colonists. Taxes were unfair to the colonists because everything they bought was taxed. To make matters even worse, the colonists could not even use or print their own money. The author states,”Britain passed a law that prevented the colonies to print and use their own money”(Doc3). Although Britain was on another continent, Europe, they forced colonists,North America, to use their currency.

This was well after the Seven Years' war and there were a huge number of assessments and obtrusive acts being passed to recover the cash spent by Great Britain amid the costly war. A ton of the things saddled were merchandise that were utilized all the time by the colonists. The sugar demonstration of 1763 saw sugar being burdened 3 pence per gallon. It additionally expanded expenses on different merchandise dispatched to provinces that were from different nations other than Britain. The cash demonstration of 1751 and 1764 after it saw Parliament passing a law that restricted pilgrims from issuing their own type of money.

After the French and Indian war Americans started to sever ties with England. Americans declared independence from England when was the unfair taxation, rights being taken away, military, and religious ideas. This allowed the colonist to break away from England and declare their independence. First, one of the major factors was the taxation of the American people. George Glenville was the prime minister of England.

Massachusetts Bay was settled by Pilgrims with religious goals in mind.  This was my colony of choice due to the fact that some of the moral views would be more evident in this colony, which would render a much safer place than the other colonies. Surely, it would not be an ideal place as they would later become absorbed by their own religious views and retaliate against those individuals  who did not follow the religion according to their

In 1811, when the first bank of the United States concluded, many banknotes were distributed, but banks were not keeping enough silver and gold to collect when requested. Large number of notes were handed out with different values and collections all at the same time as a result counterfeiting was easy. Congress handled and funded the second bank of the United States in 1816 which were allowed the state bank to issue money but its amount did not authorize

The first of several laws to accomplish this was the Proclamation of 1763 which forbade the colonists to move westward past the Appalachian Mountains. In 1764, Britain passed a law that prevented the colonies to print and use their own money. These and several other laws passed to tighten the English reign on the colonies brought out a lot of anger

The effect this woman was her undermining of the Puritan/Congregational Church while she was living in the colony. This was seen through the followers she gained during her time there, who agreed with her beliefs and many of which eventually migrated to Rhode Island and New York.

The colonies in the New World finally began to take shape. However, this didn’t happen overnight. There were complications with the Old World, Native Americans, and within their own colonies. Nevertheless, the thirteen colonies erupted along the Atlantic seaboard.

The frustrations amongst colonists did not stop with the Proclamation Line. In 1764 the Revenue Act, more commonly known as the Sugar Act was passed cutting the duty on molasses in half. Though the reduction in duty was favorable, the act also meant that ships carrying cargo were very closely monitored and those who breached laws regarding duty were tried in juryless admiralty courts. Following the Revenue Act was the Currency act of 1764, which prohibited colonies from producing their own currency; the reasoning was to restrict colonists from paying off debt with currency that was worth less than face value.