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What were greenbacks?

Greenbacks were paper money printed and issued by the U.S. government during the Civil War (1861–65; a conflict between the northern and southern states). Fighting the war was expensive, and the government had not established a tax structure for financing the war. After using up reserves of gold and silver, the government issued paper currency, which would eventually be exchanged for coin. The value of the money depended on peoples' confidence in the U.S. government to convert the paper currency into coin in the future. When the Union (northern states) suffered losses against the Confederacy (southern states), the value of greenbacks declined. By 1873 greenbacks were exchanged at full value.

Further Information: Cribb, Joe. The Coin Atlas. New York: Facts On File, 1990; Greenbacks: First Legal Tender Act. [Online] Available

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