feb 1, 1862 - Legal Tender Act of 1862 authorizes greenbacks

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Before: Gov spending increased w/ Republicans creating a modern system of public finance (increased tariffs, taxes on business corporations, interest-paying bonds by U.S. Treasury that were mostly bought by banks with the National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 and northern families as a patriotic act, and printing paper money)

-authorized $150 mil in paper currency called greenbacks and made the public see them as legal tender

greenbacks couldn't be exchanged for species, but there was a limited amount of paper money so they only lost a small part of their face value

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