BOOK EXCERPT: A NATION OF DEADBEATS

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V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 33, August 19, 2018, Article 8

BOOK EXCERPT: A NATION OF DEADBEATS

Pablo Hoffman forwarded a post from the Delancey Place blog with an excerpt from the 2012 book A Nation of Deadbeats by Scott Reynolds Nelson. -Editor

During the first years of the existence of the United States, its economy had been boosted by supplying the combatants in the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, supported by credit made available by the First Bank of the United States. That bank's charter ran from 1791 to 1811 and was not renewed because of opposition from Democrats. But in the waning years of that bank's life, its services had favored New England shipping merchants, who were largely Federalists, and those merchants were tied closely to British interests. In part because of those ties, they had opposed the coming War of 1812 with England. It was that divided loyalty that helped doom the Federalists as a viable political force:

"Dissolving the Bank of the United States in 1811 was a crucial step toward war. Congress destroyed an efficient financial machine but also -- most assuredly -- a political one. Some Democrats believed that dissolution of the bank would finally prevent Britain from corrupting the American legislature. Federalists worried that the bank could no longer quiet the rumblings of a war with England. Whatever it meant, the destruction of the bank can be seen as the first shot in what Americans would call the War of 1812.

To read the complete article, see:
THE DEMISE OF THE FIRST BANK AND THE FEDERALIST PARTY -- 8/13/18 (https://delanceyplace.com/view-archives.php?p=3655)

Wayne Homren, Editor

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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