An illustrated history of the New world : containing a general history of all the various nations, states, and republics of the western continent ..and a complete history of the United States to the present time .. . uch disobliged their constituents. Thedemands cf Consress were thus only partially and unequally fulfilled,and the levies never approached the amount at which they werenominally fixed. The financial state cf the country, too, was embarrassing in theextreme. The colonists, at the beginning of the war, had been verylittle accustomed to any serious taxation ; and having taken armsexp
An illustrated history of the New world : containing a general history of all the various nations, states, and republics of the western continent ..and a complete history of the United States to the present time .. . uch disobliged their constituents. Thedemands cf Consress were thus only partially and unequally fulfilled,and the levies never approached the amount at which they werenominally fixed. The financial state cf the country, too, was embarrassing in theextreme. The colonists, at the beginning of the war, had been verylittle accustomed to any serious taxation ; and having taken armsexpressly to resist it, would have ill brooked paying a larger amountfor their expenses than Britain had ever demanded. It was not tillNovember, 1777. that Congress ventured to make a requisition of fivemillions of dollars annually, to which the states but faintly and Spain gave some assistance, first in gift, and then in loan;but as their own finances grew embarrassed, these contributions be-came very stinted. The comrnissoners endeavoured to treat for loanswith European capitalists, especially in Holland, and with this viewdrew a flattering picture of the future prosperity of the new republic,. and her ultimate power to repay even the largest advances; but theDutch were not inclined to be satisfied with such security, and mo-ney could be got only in small amount, and on exorbitant terms. Onehouse made a somewhat liberal offer, but on condition of carrying onthe whole trade of the Union, and holding all its real and personalproperty in mortgage. In these circumstances, the States had noresource except paper-money. In 1775, they issued three millionsof dollars; and this moderate amount being easily absorbed in the cir-culation, proved an available resource. They were thus encourageoto pour forth repeated issues, which at the beginning of 1779 hadrisen to above a hundred millions, and in the course of the year todouble that amount, which the}- had pledged themselve
Size: 1904px × 1312px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookidillustratedh, bookyear1868
