There is no time in American history in which there was more economic conflict between segments of the population than there was prior to the Civil War.
G. Edward GriffinWhen governments claim to derive their authority from any source other than the governed, it always leads to the destruction of liberty.
G. Edward GriffinIn 1938, I. G. Farben sent a letter to (a major drug firm), one of its American subsidiaries, (that)..all advertising contracts must contain '...a legal clause whereby the contract is immediately cancelled if overnight the attitude of the paper toward Germany should be changed.
G. Edward GriffinIn the North, the sale of government bonds was the one measure for raising funds that seemed to work. Even that, however, with the lure of compounded interest to be paid in gold at a future date, failed to raise more than about half the needed amount. So the Union faced a real dilemma. The only options remaining were (1) terminate the war or (2) print fiat money. For Lincoln and the Republicans who controlled Congress, the choice was never seriously in doubt.
G. Edward GriffinIn the North, neither greenbacks, taxes, nor war bonds were enough to finance the war. So a national banking system was created to convert government bonds into fiat money, and the people lost over half of their monetary assets to the hidden tax of inflation. In the South, printing presses accomplished the same effect, and the monetary loss was total.
G. Edward Griffin