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xviiCHAPTER 8 AP%u00ae Working with Evidence 341DOCUMENT 7 Bank Note Vignettes Engravings on paper money often included scenes that highlighted a region%u2019s source of wealth. Enslaved people performed much of the most productive labor in southern states; they were also the most widely mortgaged form of movable property in the pre%u2013Civil War South. Vignettes printed on paper money from the South therefore often included idealized scenes of enslaved workers. The vignette on the left side of this note depicting an enslaved man carrying cotton appeared on dozens of currencies printed in southern states and persisted even after the Civil War, as in the case of this $2 note issued by an Alabama railroad company in 1871 . Source: Selma Marion & Memphis Railroad Company $2 note. Question to Consider: How did images like this one reinforce the system of chattel slavery before the Civil War and the principle of white supremacy afterward? Analyzing Historical Evidence: How does the intended audience of the currency impact how slavery is depicted on the bill? American Numismatic Society. DOING HISTORY 1. AP %u00ae Contextualization: What developments in the U.S. economy from 1800 to 1850 explain the creation of so many banks and so many currencies? 2. AP %u00ae Outside Evidence: In place of paper money issued by chartered banks and other institutions, what alternatives might have developed in this period? 3. AP %u00ae Complex Argumentation: Write an argument that takes account of the case for and against paper money, and evaluate their relative merits and persuasiveness. 4. AP %u00ae DBQ Practice: Evaluate the ways in which the source authors experienced paper money and interpreted its effects. NEW! Working with EvidenceNEW! The new AP %u00ae Working with Evidence feature includes seven brief primary sources organized around a central theme; accompanying prompts provide scaffolded practice and help build the critical habits of mind that are key to success for the Document-Based Question (DBQ) on the AP %u00ae exam. CHAPTER 8 AP%u00ae Working with Evidence 339DOCUMENT 4 An African American Barber Prints Shinplasters William Wells Brown escaped from slavery in Kentucky in 1834, at the age of nineteen. He later went on to become a well-known novelist and playwright. In the following excerpt, he describes his experience printing %u201cshinplasters,%u201d small-denomination notes backed only by his own credit. Source: William Wells Brown, Three Years in Europe , 1852 . In the autumn of 1835, having been cheated out of the previous summer%u2019s earnings, . . . I%u00a0went to the town of Monroe, in the state of Michigan. . . . I took the room, purchased an old table, two chairs, got a pole with a red stripe painted around it, and the next day opened [a barbershop]. . . . At this time, money matters in the Western States were in a sad condition. Any person who could raise a small amount of money was permitted to establish a bank, and allowed to issue notes for four times the sum raised. This being the case, many persons borrowed money merely long enough to exhibit to the bank inspectors, and the borrowed money was returned. . . . The result was, that banks were started all over the Western States, and the country flooded with worthless paper. These were known as the %u201cWild Cat Banks.%u201d . . . [T]he banks not being allowed to issue notes for a smaller amount than one dollar, several persons put out notes from 6 to 75 cents in value; these were called %u201cShinplasters.%u201d . . . Some weeks after I had commenced business on my %u201cown hook,%u201d I was one evening very much crowded with customers; . . . one of them said to me, %u201cEmperor, you seem to be doing a thriving business. You should do as other business men, issue your Shinplasters.%u201d . . . I accordingly went a few days after to a printer, and he . . . urged me to put out my notes. . . . The next day my Shinplasters were handed to me, the whole amount being twenty dollars, and after being duly signed were ready for circulation. At first my notes did not take well; they were too new, and viewed with a suspicious eye. But through the assistance of my customers, and a good deal of exertion on my own part, my bills were soon in circulation; and nearly all the money received in return for my notes was spent fitting up and decorating my shop. Question to Consider: Why did Wells want to print shinplasters? Why would his customers want to spend them? Analyzing Historical Evidence: What other events during the period regarding paper money impacted the instability of currency described by Wells? DOCUMENT 5 A Banker Argues that Ordinary People Did Not Have to Fear Bank Failures Many commentators argued that paper money was dangerous because, if a bank failed, its notes would be worthless and its customers would suffer the loss. In this passage, a banker argued that it was bank owners who took the greatest risk in issuing paper money. If a bank failed, the loss its ordinary customers suffered was likely to be minimal by comparison. Source: A. B. Johnson, A Guide to the Right Understanding of Our American Union , 1857 . Legislation on the subject of bank notes has looked only to the evils of loss from insolvent banks. . . . The laboring poor are the persons for whom, in this matter, commiseration is usually most eloquent; but no class of society is benefited more directly by an exuberant currency than manual laborers, and no class hazards so little by its dangers. From the danger which attends the creation of paper money, (the danger from owning bank stock,) the laboring poor are necessarily exempt. The only danger to which a poor laborer (continued)CHAPTER 8 AP%u00ae Working with EvidenceDOCUMENT 7 Bank Note Vignettes Engravings on paper money often included scenes that highlighted a region%u2019s source of wealth. Enslaved people performed much of the most productive labor in southern states; they were also the most widely mortgaged form of movable property in the pre%u2013Civil War South. Vignettes printed on paper money from the South therefore often included idealized scenes of enslaved workers. The vignette on the left side of this note depicting an enslaved man carrying cotton appeared on dozens of currencies printed in southern states and persisted even after the Civil War, as in the case of this $2 note issued by an Alabama railroad company in 1871 . Source: Selma Marion & Memphis Railroad Company $2 note. CHAPTER 8 AP%u00ae Working with Evidence 339 An African American Barber Prints Shinplasters William Wells Brown escaped from slavery in Kentucky in 1834, at the age of nineteen. He later went on to become a well-known novelist and playwright. In the following excerpt, he describes his experience printing %u201cshinplasters,%u201d small-denomination notes backed only by his own credit. In the autumn of 1835, having been cheated out of the previous summer%u2019s earnings, . . . I%u00a0went to the town of Monroe, in the state of Michigan. . . . I took the room, purchased an old table, two chairs, got a pole with a red stripe painted around it, and the next day At this time, money matters in the Western States were in a sad condition. Any person who could raise a small amount of money was permitted to establish a bank, and allowed to issue notes for four times the sum raised. This being the case, many persons borrowed money merely long enough to exhibit to the bank inspectors, and the borrowed money was returned. . . . The result was, that banks were started all over the Western States, and the country flooded with worthless paper. These were known as the %u201cWild Cat Banks.%u201d . . . [T]he banks not being allowed to issue notes for a smaller amount than one dollar, several persons put out notes from 6 to 75 cents in value; these were called %u201cShinplasters.%u201d . . . Some weeks after I had commenced business on my %u201cown hook,%u201d I was one evening very much crowded with customers; . . . one of them said to me, %u201cEmperor, you seem to be doing a thriving business. You should do as other business men, issue your Shinplasters.%u201d . . . I accordingly went a few days after to a printer, and he . . . urged me to put out my notes. . . . The next day my Shinplasters were handed to me, the whole amount being twenty dollars, and after being duly signed were ready for circulation. At first my notes did not take well; they were too new, and viewed with a suspicious eye. But through the assistance of my customers, and a good deal of exertion on my own part, my bills were soon in circulation; and nearly all the money received in return for my notes was spent fitting up and Why did Wells want to print shinplasters? Why would his customers want What other events during the period regarding paper money impacted the instability of currency described by Wells? A Banker Argues that Ordinary People Did Not Have to Fear Bank Many commentators argued that paper money was dangerous because, if a bank failed, its notes would be worthless and its customers would suffer the loss. In this passage, a banker argued that it was bank owners who took the greatest risk in issuing paper money. If a bank failed, the loss its 337 In the first half of the nineteenth century, the U.S. economy relied heavily on paper money printed by chartered banks. The First and Second Banks of the United States, both chartered by Congress, issued paper too, but most notes came from banks chartered by state governments. By 1860, there were almost 1,400 banks; together they issued nearly 10,000 different kinds of paper money. Notes were also issued by railroads, corporations, and municipal governments. At the local level, even petty businessmen printed their own currency %u2014 called %u201cshinplasters%u201d %u2014 in small denominations. Counterfeit bills abounded. Critics of paper money argued that its value was uncertain and that it endangered people%u2019s economic well-being. Advocates countered that paper money lubricated the economy and helped ordinary people meet their everyday needs. Paper Money in the Early Republic Working with Evidence LO O K I N G A H E A D DBQ PRACTICE Consider the role of paper money in the early republic. What were the benefits of paper money compared to other forms of currency? What were concerns regarding the reliability and safety of paper money? DOCUMENT 1 A Critic Condemns Banks and Paper Money Baltimore newspaper editor Hezekiah Niles railed against banks and paper money, which he considered to be a British import (since the Bank of England printed paper money). He argued that paper money destabilized the economy, encouraged forgery, and caused foreclosures. Source: Hezekiah Niles, Weekly Register , July 4, 1818. After having beheld the misery brought upon England (whose vices and follies we are so apt to copy, unadmonished by their effect ) by the excess of her %u201cpaper-system,%u201d . . . after having seen the palaces and poor-houses that it had erected, with an almost total extinction of the middle classes, . . . how was it that we yielded so easily[?]. . . . [W]e seem about to become liable to be called a nation of counterfeiters! Counterfeit notes and false bank notes are so common, that forgery seems to have lost its criminality in the minds of many. . . . The %u201cpaper system%u201d has been considered by my invaluable correspondent, and myself, as at war with real property and the product of labor . This is unfortunately, felt in many parts of our country, especially in the states of New York and Pennsylvania. A few days ago I accidentally examined a village newspaper in the former, %u2014 and . . . was surprized at the long rows of sheriff%u2019s advertisements that it contained %u2014 thirty three pieces of real property, belonging to as many different persons, were advertised for sale by the sheriff of the county, [a western one,] many of which appeared to be valuable farms, and there were also eleven mortgage sales , in the same paper! . . . Now for a contrast %u2014 Westchester county, N.Y. had 30,272 inhabitants in 1810, and the people have increased since, and its taxable property was valued at $6,317,326 dollars %u2014 But, at a recent court of common pleas and general sessions of the peace, only one indictment was found. . . . There were also only two civil cases. . . . I struck my hand on the table, exclaiming, %u201cthen there is no bank in this county!%u201d I examined a list of the banks of New York and found that the opinion was a correct one. Question to Consider: What, according to Niles, is wrong with the %u201cpaper system%u201d? How does he think it affects the fortunes of ordinary people? Analyzing Historical Evidence: What was the purpose of Niles%u2019s article regarding paper money? %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.