engl_posob / В. И. Комиссарук ГЭФ 3-5 курс / Text 4D

Text 4D.

1. Read the text and state main stages of money system development in the USA.

Money in the USA

Here are some facts about the history of money in the USA. In the American Colonies, money was scarce. England did not furnish coins and forbade the colonies to make them. The English hoped to force the colonies to trade almost entirely with England. One way of doing so was by limited the money supply. Without money, the colonists could not do business with traders in other countries who demanded payment in cash. But the colonists could buy products from English traders with bills of exchange. They got these documents from other English traders in exchange for their own goods.

Later American colonists used English, Spanish and French money. However, in 1775, when the Revolutionary War became inevitable, the Continental Congress authorized the issuance of currency to finance the conflict. After the US constitution was ratified, Congress passed the "Mint Act" of April 2, 1792, which established the coinage system of the United States and the dollar as the principal unit of the currency. The government did not issue paper money until 1861. During this same period (1793-1861), approximately 1,600 private banks were permitted to print and circulate their own paper currency under State Charters.

With the onset of the Civil War, the Government - desperate for money to finance the war - passed the Act of July 17, 1861, permitting the Treasure Department to print and circulate paper money. The first paper money issued by the Government were Demand Notes commonly referred to as "greenbacks". In 1862, Congress retired the Demand Notes and began issuing Unites States Notes, also called Legal Tender Notes. During the period from 1863 to 1929, the Government again permitted thousands of banks to issue their own notes under the National Bank Acts of 1863 and 1864. These were called "National Bank Notes".

In 1913, Congress passed the Federal Reserve Acts, establishing the nation's Federal Reserve System. This Act authorizes the Federal Reserve Banks to issue Federal Reserve Bank Notes - the only currency still being manufactured today by the Bureau to Engraving and Printing.

The name "dollar" was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1785. Then word "dollar" originates from the German word Thaler (valley) which meant "Coin of Joachimsthal".

There are several versions of the origin of the sign $ But he most popular and authentic is the following: the sign is the result of the evolution of the letters P and S, which is the abbreviation of the word "pesos" (the plural form of the word '"peso", Spanish currency).

The origin of the word "buck" also has several versions. It means "male" (usually it refers to a deer). Buckskins were very popular with the American Indians and colonists; they were used as a standard form of barter.

There was a large amount of silver, which in the Middle Ages had been rarer than gold. The most effective force in establishing more uniform money systems in Europe was the rise of industrial cities. They supports the kings against the nobles. Gradually the kings took over the sole right of coining within their kingdoms. This decreased the confusion created by the use of many different coins developed by the feudal lords.

Unit 5

Competition 30