page_title: Red tape
hierarchical_section_title: Red tape
caption_attribution_description: English: “Red tape” used to bind bundles of redeemed Civil War-era Confederacy bond coupons. Part of an extensive collection (Smithsonian Institution) of fiscal documents seized by the Union Army from the Confederacy immediately after the assassination of President Lincoln.
context_page_description: Red tape is an idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to governments, corporations, and other large organizations. Things often described as "red tape" include filling out paperwork, obtaining licenses, having multiple people or committees approve a decision and various low-level rules that make conducting one's affairs slower, more difficult, or both.
context_section_description: Red tape is an idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to governments, corporations, and other large organizations. Things often described as "red tape" include filling out paperwork, obtaining licenses, having multiple people or committees approve a decision and various low-level rules that make conducting one's affairs slower, more difficult, or both.
caption: American Civil War "Red Tape" binding redeemed Confederate States of America bond coupons
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