Dec

10

Jeff DavisFrom "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government" by Jefferson Davis:

The issues of Treasury notes were increased until, in December, 1863, the currency in circulation amounted to more than six hundred million dollars, or more than threefold the amount required by the business of the country. The evil effects of this financial condition were but too apparent. In addition to the difficulty presented to the necessary operations of the government, and the efficient conduct of the war, the most deplorable of all its results was, undoubtedly, its corrupting influence on the morals of the people. The possession of large amounts of treasury notes led to a desire for investment; with a constantly increasing volume of currency, there was an equally constant increase of price in all objects of investment. This effect stimulated purchase by the apparent certainty of profit, and a spirit of speculation was thus fostered, which had so debasing an influence and such ruinous consequences that it became our highest duty to remove the cause by prompt and stringent measures.


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  1. Marco Loureiro on December 11, 2007 1:08 pm

    Also another point of interest…extracted from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco 1995 Annual Report: A Brief History of Our Nation’s Paper Money.

    “Between 1861 and 1865 Confederate currency was being issued to millions of Southerners, gambling that a Confederate victory would ensure the currency would be redeemable. In an effort to debase this currency, the North printed counterfeit Confederate money and circulated it in the south. Inflation was soon rampant in both the north and south, but far worse in the Confederacy. As the end of the war neared, Confederate citizens completely lost confidence in their currency and came to rely on barter or black-market greenbacks. In some cases Confederate soldiers were even paid in Northern greenbacks. By the end of the war, Confederate notes were totally worthless.”

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