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Department of the Treasury: Difference between revisions
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===Creation of the Treasury=== | ===Creation of the Treasury=== | ||
[[Image:Seal of the United States Department of the Treasury (1789-1968).png|thumb|Original seal, dating from before 1968]] | [[Image:Seal of the United States Department of the Treasury (1789-1968).png|thumb|Original seal, dating from before 1968]] | ||
The [[1st United States Congress|First United States Congress]] convened in [[New York City]] on March 4, 1789, marking the beginning of government under the [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]]. On September 2, 1789, Congress created a permanent institution for the management of government finances:<blockquote>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be a Department of Treasury, in which shall be the following officers, namely: a Secretary of the Treasury, to be deemed head of the department; a Comptroller, an Auditor, a Treasurer, a Register, and an [[United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury|Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury]], which assistant shall be appointed by the said Secretary.<ref name="Act-to-establish">{{cite web | title=Image 1 of An act to establish the Treasury department .... [Dated] 1789, July 2. New-York. Printed by Thomas Greenleaf.]. | website=The Library of Congress | date=1970-01-01 | url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.1110160m/?st=text | access-date=2022-12-01 | archive-date=December 1, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201172233/https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.1110160m/?st=text | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://legisworks.org/sal/1/stats/STATUTE-1-Pg65.pdf|title=Chapter 12, 1 Statue. 65|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019033202/http://legisworks.org/sal/1/stats/STATUTE-1-Pg65.pdf|archive-date=October 19, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>[[Alexander Hamilton]] took the oath of office as the first [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|secretary of the treasury]] on September 11, 1789. Hamilton had served as [[George Washington]]'s ''[[aide-de-camp]]'' during the | The [[1st United States Congress|First United States Congress]] convened in [[New York City]] on March 4, 1789, marking the beginning of government under the [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]]. On September 2, 1789, Congress created a permanent institution for the management of government finances:<blockquote>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be a Department of Treasury, in which shall be the following officers, namely: a Secretary of the Treasury, to be deemed head of the department; a Comptroller, an Auditor, a Treasurer, a Register, and an [[United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury|Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury]], which assistant shall be appointed by the said Secretary.<ref name="Act-to-establish">{{cite web | title=Image 1 of An act to establish the Treasury department .... [Dated] 1789, July 2. New-York. Printed by Thomas Greenleaf.]. | website=The Library of Congress | date=1970-01-01 | url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.1110160m/?st=text | access-date=2022-12-01 | archive-date=December 1, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201172233/https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.1110160m/?st=text | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://legisworks.org/sal/1/stats/STATUTE-1-Pg65.pdf|title=Chapter 12, 1 Statue. 65|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019033202/http://legisworks.org/sal/1/stats/STATUTE-1-Pg65.pdf|archive-date=October 19, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>[[Alexander Hamilton]] took the oath of office as the first [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|secretary of the treasury]] on September 11, 1789. Hamilton had served as [[George Washington]]'s ''[[aide-de-camp]]'' during the American Revolutionary War and was influential in the [[United States Constitution#1788 ratification|ratification]] of the Constitution. Hamilton's [[business acumen|financial and managerial acumen]] made him a logical choice for addressing the problem of the new nation's heavy [[war debt]]. His first official act as secretary was to submit a report to Congress in which he laid the foundation for the nation's financial health. | ||
To the surprise of many legislators, he insisted upon [[Debt Assumption|federal assumption]] and dollar-for-dollar repayment of the country's $75 million debt in order to revitalize the [[public credit]]: "[T]he debt of the United States was the price of liberty. The faith of America has been repeatedly pledged for it, and with solemnities that give peculiar force to the obligation."<ref name="syrett1962vol6">{{cite book|editor-last1=Syrett|editor-first1=Harold C.|title=The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 6|date=1962|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0231089050|url=http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/america7/content/multimedia/ch08/documents_02.htm|access-date=May 6, 2018|ref=syrett1962vol6|archive-date=May 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507003521/http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/america7/content/multimedia/ch08/documents_02.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Hamilton foresaw the development of industry and trade in the United States, suggesting that government revenues be based upon [[customs duties]].<ref name="syrett1962vol6" /> His sound [[fiscal policy|financial policies]] also inspired investment in the [[First Bank of the United States|Bank of the United States]], which acted as the government's [[fiscal agent]].{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} | To the surprise of many legislators, he insisted upon [[Debt Assumption|federal assumption]] and dollar-for-dollar repayment of the country's $75 million debt in order to revitalize the [[public credit]]: "[T]he debt of the United States was the price of liberty. The faith of America has been repeatedly pledged for it, and with solemnities that give peculiar force to the obligation."<ref name="syrett1962vol6">{{cite book|editor-last1=Syrett|editor-first1=Harold C.|title=The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 6|date=1962|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0231089050|url=http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/america7/content/multimedia/ch08/documents_02.htm|access-date=May 6, 2018|ref=syrett1962vol6|archive-date=May 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507003521/http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/america7/content/multimedia/ch08/documents_02.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Hamilton foresaw the development of industry and trade in the United States, suggesting that government revenues be based upon [[customs duties]].<ref name="syrett1962vol6" /> His sound [[fiscal policy|financial policies]] also inspired investment in the [[First Bank of the United States|Bank of the United States]], which acted as the government's [[fiscal agent]].{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} | ||