Watch Your Greenbacks: Money Smart Programs for Adults
| Introduction | Lincoln's Public Life | Assassination |
| Slavery | Lincoln's Private Life | Money Smart Program |
| Emancipation | Civil War | Extended Bibliography |
| Friends & Enemies | Illinois and the Civil War | Sponsors |
Abraham Lincoln was quite money savvy about our nation’s finances. Be Money Smart like Abe and attend our special series of Money Smart Programs for adults and teens. Presented in partnership with members of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Money Smart Week Planning Committee and the University of Illinois Extension.
See a list of current Money Smart events and resources.
Lincoln, Greenbacks, and the Taxman
To help finance the war, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase mandated the
Legal Tender Act of 1862 in which “greenback” currency was created, backed by
neither silver nor gold. America’s national banking system was instituted and became
law in February of 1863.