dec 23, 1913 - Federal Reserve Act is Passed
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By December 23, 1913, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law, it stood as a classic example of compromise—a decentralized central bank that balanced the competing interests of private banks and populist sentiment. The Fed was set up similar to a corporation. Any bank that joined had to purchase shares of stock in the system. As part share holders, banks own the Federal Reserve System, not the government. The Fed’s currency is called the Federal Reserve Notes, which eventually replaced all other types of federal currency. It is a banker’s bank, able to lend money to other banks during difficult periods.
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