The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1890-02-14
CONTINENTAL MONEY.
The First Circulating Medium Made by the
United States.


United States.
The colonies had long been familiar
with the practice of issuing paper money
or bills of credit. When, therefore, the
serious trouble began brewing between
the colonies and the mother country it
was natural that there should be strong
feeling in favor of the old plan. New
York seems to have been the first colony
to make a move in the way of issuing
Continental paper currency, action to
that end having been taken early in
ITS. Among those who early advocated
an issue of paper money by Congress, in
stead of by the colonies, was Governor
Morris, who sent report on the subject
10 Philadelphia, where the Congress was
then in session. A committee to whom
the subject had been referred reported
in favor of the plan ''that the Conti-
mental Congress should strike the whole
sum and apportionate the several shares
to the different colonies" With all the
speed possible, the need of money was
so great that, to buy powder for the
Continental army, Congress resolved to
borrow &C, 900 for the defense of America,
pledging the faith of the colonies
for repayment. In view of these facts,
it should be remembered that two kinds
of money had been used in the colonies.
Pennsylvania had adopted the improved
method which was to limit a certain
amount of paper for a given time, say
ten years, at the expiration OF which
period it was all redeemed. The other
kind of paper was issued by colony,
upon the pledge of certain taxes, which
were considered sufficient to redeem it
within a specified time. This method
had longer been employed by the Col
onies. In fact, nowhere but in Pennsyl-
vania had the issue of paper money been
satisfactory. On the subject of the first
issue here is what Prof. Bolles says:
1.-The bill passed by Congress, authoriz-
ing the first issue of bills of credit, GER
tainly encountered the opposition of
Franklin, for he wrote to Samuel Cooper
that he took all the pains he could in
Congress to prevent their depreciation,
by proposing that the bills should bear
interest. However divergent
were the views of the delegates upon the
question of issuing paper money or the
mode of issuing it, Congress declared
near the end of June June %,
1775) to issue bills of credit
not exceeding two million Span
ish milled dollars pledging the faith
of the confederate colonies for their re-
demption. This was the plan recon-
mended by the committee of the New
York Assembly, and it received the sup
port of the delegates who represented
| that colony in Congress. The next day
some minor matters respecting the bills
were settled, and committee, consist
| ing of John Adams, John Rutledge,
James Duane, BENJAMIN Franklin and
James Wilson, were appointed to en-
| grave the plate, procure the paper, and
arrange for printing the notes." Frank
lin was more familiar with this work
than any other member, as he had print
| ed paper money for the Colony of New
Jersey and devised the first copper-plate
press for printing the bills. The first
Continental bills were of several denom-
nations, from one to twenty dollars, and
in form as follows:
Continental Currency"
No. Dollars.
| This bill entities the bearer TO receive
- Spanished milled dollars, or the
value thereof in gold or silver, accord
| ing to the resolutions of Congress, held
at Philadelphia, on the 10th day of May.
A D., 17T5. Chicago Inter Ocean.