STANDARDS

Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.7, WHST.6-8.2, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.7, W.6-8.2

NCSS: Production, Distribution, and Consumption • Science, Technology, and Society

Article Options

Presentation View
Teaching Resources

NEWS ALERT!

Pic From the Past

From Gold to Green

National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

A. The Statue of Freedom shows a woman wearing an eagle-topped helmet. It stands atop the U.S. Capitol today.

B. The government added unique features, including red identification numbers, official signatures, and detailed designs to make the notes hard to fake.

C. The $5 note honored Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s first secretary of the treasury.

Dollar bills are common today, but before 1862, gold and silver were the main way to pay. That worked until the Civil War (1861-1865), when the U.S. government’s gold and silver reserves ran low.

In response, Congress passed the Legal Tender Act in February 1862, authorizing the creation of U.S. notes, the country’s first widely circulated paper currency. The government printed $150 million worth of the money, also known as legal tender notes or greenbacks. The first set ranged in value from $5 to $1,000.

Although the currency was meant to be a temporary way to pay troops, the notes remained in circulation for a century.

The photograph above shows the earliest version, approved 160 years ago this month.

History
U.S. History
treasury

(n) the part of the government that deals with a country’s money

 

The federal income taxes that most people who work have to pay every year go into the national treasury.
legal tender

(n) coins, bills, or other forms of money that must be accepted if offered as payment

 

Last year, El Salvador became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender.
Civil War

(n) a conflict fought from 1861 to 1865 in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, mainly over slavery

 

After four years of fighting, the Civil War ended when the Confederacy surrendered.
Capitol

(n) the building where the U.S. Congress meets in Washington, D.C.

 

Construction of the U.S. Capitol began in 1793, and today it contains more than 500 rooms.
currency

(n) the money used by a country or place

 

Two examples of currency are the euro, which is used by almost 20 European countries, and the U.S. dollar.
Skills Sheets (2)
Skills Sheets (2)
Lesson Plan (1)
Text-to-Speech