Episode 254: Jeffrey Sklansky, The Money Question in Early America

We read and hear a lot about money. We read and hear about fluctuations in the value of the Dollar, Pound, and Euro, interest rates and who can and can’t get access to credit, and we also read and hear about new virtual currencies like Bitcoin and Facebook’s Libra.

We talk a lot about money. But where did the idea of money come from?

Did early Americans think about money a lot too?

Jeffrey Sklansky is a Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the author of Sovereign of the Market: The Money Question in Early America. Jeff is an expert in the intellectual and social history of capitalism in early America and he’s agreed to lead us on an investigation of the world of money in early America.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Jeffrey Sklansky is a Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the author of Sovereign of the Market: The Money Question in Early America. Jeff is an expert in the intellectual and social history of capitalism in early America and he’s agreed to lead us on an investigation of the world of money in early America.

As we explore the world of money in early America, Jeff reveals how money came about in early America; How English and British Americans thought about money; And details about “the money question” early Americans grappled with and how that “money question” informs how we think about money today.

What You’ll Discover

  • Why the history of money has become a “hot topic” to study
  • Why we should study money in early America
  • The “money question” in early America
  • Seventeenth-century European money traditions
  • Development of currencies in North America
  • How and why colonial Massachusetts issued paper currency
  • Conflict over colonial Massachusetts’ decision to issue paper currency
  • Paper money and religion in Massachusetts
  • Paper money and science in Massachusetts
  • The Bay Colony’s response to colonists call to issue and not issue paper money
  • The “money question” and the American Revolution
  • What the “money question” of the 17th and 18th centuries can tell us about our present-day money questions

 

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Time Warp PlainTime Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if England had not outlawed the exportation of silver and other forms of English currency to North America? How might the history of the “money question” have been different?

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