Banking Modern America Studies in regulatory history Financial History Series

The passage of the National Currency Act of 1863 gave the United States its first uniform paper money, its first nationally chartered and supervised commercial banks, and its first modern regulatory agency: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The law marked a milestone in the development of the U.S. financial system and the modern administrative state. Yet its importance has been largely overlooked.

Banking Modern America aims to address that gap. With its unique multidisciplinary approach that brings together scholars from disciplines including history, economics, the law, and finance, this book lends a new dimension to studying the origins and development of a system that touched key aspects of modern America. Chapters examine key episodes in the history of Federal banking, looking at the Civil War origins of the national banking system and the practical challenges of setting up a new system of money and banking. The essays in this volume explore the tensions that arose between bankers and Federal regulators, between governmental jurisdictions, and even between regulators themselves.

This book will be essential reading for academics of banking and finance, regulation, numismatics and history, as well as professional economists, historians and policy makers interested in the history of the US financial system.

Banking Modern America: Essays in Regulatory History

Table of Contents

1. General Introduction




Jesse Stiller




2. Origins of the National Bank Act and National Currency




Peter Huntoon




3. National Bank Notes and the Practical Limits of Nationalization




Franklin Noll




4. Charter No. 1: First Among National Banks




Marianne Babal




5. E.T. Wilson and the Banks: A Case Study in Government Regulation and Service






Paula Petrik






6. Stabilizing the National Banking System, 1864-1913: The Role of Bank Examination






Eugene N. White






7. Founding the Fourth Branch: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency




Jesse Stiller




8. National Bank Preemption and the Financial Crisis of 2008




Raymond Natter




9. The Measure of a Regulator: the Office of Thrift Supervision, 1989 – 2011

Paula Dejmek Woods

Jesse Stiller is the Special Advisor for Executive Communications and Historian at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, USA.