The U.S. Constitution and Monetary Powers: An Analysis of the 1787 Constitutional Convention and How a Constitutional Transformation of the Nation's Monetary System Emerged
The monetary powers embedded in the U.S. Constitution were revolutionary and led to a watershed transformation in the nation’s monetary structure. They included determining what monies could be legal tender, who could emit fiat paper money, and who could incorporate banks. How the debate at the 1787 Constitutional Convention over these powers evolved and the path the founding fathers took that led to the specific powers adopted is presented and deconstructed. Why they took this path rather than replicate the colonial system and why they codified such powers into supreme law rather than leave them to legislative debate are addressed.
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Delaware, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number
04-08.
Length: 58 pages Date of creation: 2004 Date of revision: Publication status: Published in Financial History Review, vol. 13, no. 1 (April, 2006), pp. 43-71. Handle: RePEc:dlw:wpaper:04-08