PROGRAM BACKGROUND (History Lesson)

For “Dollars and Sense”

 

            OLDER KIDS (I wrote this with 4th-6th graders in mind)

 

(Little anecdote about money or allowances or something, depending on audience)

 

The American colonies began issuing paper money almost as soon as they were formed in Massachusetts, 1690. Most money was in coins and paper money may or may not be accepted wherever you go.

 

People did not trust paper money and preferred coin. However, there often were not enough coins for all the stores in one area, so paper currency was used in its place. People or businesses holding paper currency, or money, usually wished to change it to coins as soon as possible but there was no central system for money to use. 

 

The money had to be taken to where it was printed to convert it into coin. For example, if you were in Georgia and had money issued on a New York bank, you would have to travel to that bank in New York to convert the paper to coin. And that was assuming the issuer of the currency was still in business and had the coin. Information did not travel in those days like it does today and the holders of the notes of often found that the bank or business no longer existed and therefore the note was literally not worth the paper it was printed on. Holders of such notes usually had no way to get their money back.

 

Most of the paper currency printed before and during the Revolutionary war was issued by Colonial Governments to finance governmental operations. This is called Colonial Currency. During the Revolutionary war, the Continental Congress issued currency (called Continental Currency) to pay for its war effort.

During the period between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, banking and making money was left up to the individual states to control. During this period, private banks, businesses, and even individuals issued their own paper currency. It seemed all one needed was access to a printing press and paper to print it on. As a result, there are literally thousands of different notes issued by different businesses, banks, individuals, and State and County Governments during this time period.

The Confederate States Government began issuing money to finance its operations soon after its formation at the start of the Civil War. This currency was not "convertible" into anything and was simply payable at an unspecified future date (usually stated as payable X number of months or years after the ratification of a treaty with the United States). This was the first time in our country's history that we see paper money being accepted and used like modern money today. Before the Civil War, it was only accepted if the person taking it felt they could convert it into coin or "real money". Most people accepting the Confederate Currency had no choice because coin and United States "greenbacks" were scarce. Also, in the South, many people were afraid of being branded as a Northern sympathizer if they did not accept the Confederate currency.

However, the central Confederate Government was not able to issue enough currency to sustain itself and pay the huge cost involved to raise, equip and to sustain military operations on the three broad fronts that developed during the Civil War. Much of this effort was left to the State, County, and local Governments and even sometimes private citizens.

Store owners often printed their own money that could be used to buy goods at teir store and was often convertible into Confederate or other circulating currency when presented at the store in stated values. These notes are called Scrip notes.  Some businesses in different towns would partner to redeem each other’s notes. How and where the note could be redeemed was stated on the front of the note.

Scrip notes are like I.O.Us and are very similar to "store credit" that you get when you return something to a store today. However, Scrip notes had an additional feature. They could not only be used to buy goods or services for the stated value of the note at the issuing store, they also often circulated in the local area as money, and were often accepted at other businesses as money.

After the Civil War, our system of currency and banking would continue to change into the system we know today. In fact, our standard of living and way of life depends upon this monetary system. Could you imagine not accepting a Federal Reserve Note (the paper money we use today) as "money"? Or wanting to pay all your bills in coin? Or not being able to cash a check at any bank but instead having to travel to the actual bank it was written on to cash it? While that system worked fine for Colonial America, today's complex societies and intricate business environments require a far more complex system to build and maintain our standard of living.

 

 

Interesting facts:

The Spanish, U.S. silver dollars, and Mexican silver pesos circulated side by side in the United States, and the Spanish dollar and Mexican peso remained legal tender until 1857.

 

The coinage of various English colonies also circulated.

 

The lion dollar was popular in the Dutch New Netherland Colony (New York), but the lion dollar also circulated throughout the English colonies during the 17th century and early 18th century. Examples circulating in the colonies were usually worn so that the design was not fully distinguishable, thus they were sometimes referred to as "dog dollars".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VISUAL AIDS

$5.00 First National Bank Bentonville, Arkansas October 24, 1904. This note was either never signed by the bank's president and cashier or the signatures have faded. Note has had some kind of tape placed on the bottom and glue on the left side for some reason. Note sure why.

Back the large size nation $5.00 bill. The same back was used for all $5 denominations.

$5.00 First National Bank of Fayetteville, Arkansas June 3, 1904. Nice note with clear purple signatures.

An example of a Type 1 small size national issued between May 1929 and May 1933 is this one on the First National Bank of Berryville.
Berryville notes are always hard to come by and I am glad to get this one.

 

Listed below are some typical examples of Arkansas Treasury Warrants.
State of Arkansas One Dollar April 17, 1862. Typical example on blue/grey paper.

State of Arkansas Two dollars Treasury Warrant July 25, 1862

State of Arkansas Three Dollar Treasury Warrant April 11, 1862

State of Arkansas Five Dollar Treasury Warrant July 25, 1862. The front of this note looks "dirty" because it's printed on the back of other notes that shows through the paper.

State of Arkansas Ten Dollars April 11, 1864. Typical example white paper.

 

ACTIVITIES

For “Dollars and Sense”

1.      Design a dollar

What things do we see on paper money and on coins?

-       Buildings

-       People

-       Sayings

-       Amount

-       Where the money is from

Items we can use to create them depend on age group, but we could even utilize glitter and/or pipe cleaners along with our more common things like Crayolas and markers.

 

2.      Scavenger Hunt

Give children a piece of paper with images of replica coins on it. Have them travel around the grounds and/or through the building to find coins hidden.

 

3.      Memory

A gold old-fashioned memory game can be made easily, do not incur wear and tear, and can be kept indefinitely.