Length: {10:41 minutes}

Summary of the Passage on the Return of the Gold Standard

Post-Lincoln Era Financial Control

1. Objective of Money Changers:
   • After Lincoln’s assassination, money changers aimed to control America’s money.
   • Despite large silver discoveries and the popularity of greenbacks, European central bankers sought to undermine them.
2. Legislation Against Greenbacks:
   • In 1866, Congress passed the Contraction Act, reducing greenbacks in circulation.
   • This caused financial hardship and economic instability, leading to the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913.
3. Gold Standard and Centralized Banking:
   • Money changers wanted a central bank and currency backed by gold.
   • They created financial panics to push for centralized control and reduced money supply to impoverish Americans, making them less resistant.
4. Contraction of Money Supply:
   • From 1866 to 1876, America’s money supply drastically reduced, severely impacting per capita money availability and causing economic distress.
5. Silver Demonetization:
   • Ernest Seyd bribed U.S. congressmen to demonetize silver, leading to the Coinage Act of 1873, which stopped minting silver dollars.
   • This move benefited the Bank of England and further reduced the money supply.
6. Public and Congressional Reaction:
   • By 1876, with high unemployment and economic distress, there was a push to return to greenbacks or silver money.
   • The 1876 Silver Commission blamed monetary contraction on national bankers, comparing it to the fall of the Roman Empire.
7. Bankers’ Countermeasures:
   • Despite public outcry, bankers maintained control.
   • The American Bankers Association (ABA) in 1877 encouraged subversion of Congress and the press to oppose greenback currency.
8. Economic and Political Manipulation:
   • The ABA instructed banks to support media opposing greenbacks and to lobby Congress to protect banking interests.
   • The press and bankers collaborated to sway public opinion and legislation against a return to greenbacks.
9. Conclusion:
   • The money supply manipulation by national bankers post-Civil War led to economic hardship, centralized banking control, and the establishment of the gold standard.

• INDEX (with correct start and stop times opening in a new window):
• 1. Intro {10:38 minutes}
• 2. The Money Changers {1:14 minutes}
• 3. Roman Empire {1:35 minutes}
• 4. The Goldsmiths {4:40 minutes}
• 5. Talley Sticks {4:55 minutes}
• 6. The Bank of England {4:20 minutes}
• 7. The Rise of the Rothschilds {5:35 minutes}
• 8. The American Revolution {6:30 minutes}
• 9. The Bank of North America {2:35 minutes}
• 10. The Constitutional Convention {2:51 minutes}
• 11. First Bank of the United States {4:20 minutes}
• 12. Napoleon’s Rise To Power {2:41 minutes}
• 13. Death of the First Bank {2:10 minutes}
• 14. Waterloo {6:05 minutes}
• 15. Second Bank of the U.S. {1:20 minutes}
• 16. Andrew Jackson {9:52 minutes}
• 17. Abe Lincoln {16:23 minutes}
• 18. The Return of the Gold Standard {10:41 minutes}
• 19. Free Silver {5:10 minutes}
• 20. J.P. Morgan and the Crash of 1907 {4:55 minutes}
• 21. Jekyll Island {11:45 minutes}
• 22. Fed Act of 1913 {11:37 minutes}
• 23. World War I {7:21 minutes}
• 24. Great Depression {13:58 minutes}
• 25. FDR/WWII {13:00 minutes}
• 26. IMF/World Bank {11:51 minutes}
• 27. Conclusions {27:52 minutes}