West's Encyclopedia of American Law | Bank of the United States

The American Revolutionary War resulted in the emergence of a new country faced with the task of establishing a fundamental basis for government embodying the principles of freedom for which the colonists had fought. The need for a sound financial system was most urgent, and this was remedied by the creation of the First Bank of the United States in 1791.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON, first U.S. secretary of the treasury, devised the original plan for the bank. It was argued that the Constitution did not empower Congress to institute such a bank, and that the bank was partial to commercial interests as opposed to those of farmers. Congress, nonetheless, endorsed the passage of the bank's charter.

The bank, located in Philadelphia, began with assets of $10 million, one-fifth of this money furnished by the federal government, the remainder provided by outside...