Chartering of the Bank of Pennsylvania
- When
- 1780
- Where
- Philadelphia, where the bank was organized
- Episodes
- 1
The Bank of Pennsylvania was organized in Philadelphia on July 17, 1780, at Thomas Paine's suggestion, to fund provisions for the Continental Army. Citizens pledged state and continental money, raising £315,000 in depreciated currency. This wartime subscription bank is distinct from the state-chartered institution of 1793, and the sources do not describe it as formally chartered.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. During the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Army required provisions, and a fundraising vehicle was proposed to meet that need. The sources identify Thomas Paine as the originator of the idea, situating the bank within the wartime effort rather than within any broader program of Continental Congress economic policy, which the supplied passages do not discuss.
Organization and Fundraising. The bank was organized on July 17, 1780. Citizens were urged to pledge both state money and continental money, and the subscription ultimately totaled £315,000 in depreciated currency. The passages describe the institution as organized rather than chartered, so the formal chartering claim remains unconfirmed by the supplied evidence.
Institutional Identity. The name Bank of Pennsylvania, or Pennsylvania Bank, refers to two separate institutions: the wartime bank of 1780 and a different bank chartered by the state in 1793. The event treated here concerns only the 1780 organization, and the passages supply no founder or legislator names beyond Paine to reconcile against person identities.
People involved
- Thomas Paine · Suggester of the bank's organization
Sources
- Bank of Pennsylvania Wikipedia, revision of 2026-03-02
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.