Independent Treasury System

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The Independent Treasury System was a U.S. federal financial arrangement, established in the 19th century, in which the government managed its own funds through a network of sub-treasuries rather than using a central national bank.


Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal financial system
abolished 1913
abolishedBy Federal Reserve Act of 1913
administeredBy Secretary of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
alsoKnownAs Independent Treasury
Subtreasury System
appliesToJurisdiction federal government of the United States
country United States
creator James K. Polk administration
economicImpact contributed to debates over hard money versus soft money
reduced federal reliance on private banks
field monetary history of the United States
public finance
financialPolicy kept federal funds out of private banks
required specie payments for many federal transactions
followedBy Federal Reserve System
hasComponent sub-treasury in Boston
sub-treasury in Charleston
sub-treasury in New Orleans
sub-treasury in New York City
sub-treasury in Philadelphia
sub-treasury in St. Louis
sub-treasury in other major U.S. cities
hasPart Treasury Department vaults
network of sub-treasuries
historicalPeriod Antebellum United States
Gilded Age
inception 1846
initialEnactment Independent Treasury Act of 1840
initialProposalDate 1837
initialRepeal 1841
legalBasis Independent Treasury Act of 1846
locationOfImplementation Washington, D.C.
mainFunction collection of federal revenues
disbursement of federal expenditures
management of federal government funds
motivation response to the Panic of 1837
opposedBy Whig Party leaders
proposedBy Martin Van Buren
relatedTo Federal Reserve System
National Banking System
Second Bank of the United States
replaced use of state banks as federal depositories
replaces Second Bank of the United States–style centralized banking for federal funds
restoration 1846
supportedBy Democratic Party hard-money advocates

Referenced by (3)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Independent Treasury System ("Subtreasury System")
Independent Treasury System ("Independent Treasury")
alsoKnownAs
Second Bank of the United States
successor

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