Historedia
AmericasEvent

Incorporation of the Bank of the United States

When
1789–1791
Where
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then the national capital; First Congress session; Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia; Federal fiscal policy context
Episodes
4

The Bank of the United States was chartered by Congress on February 25, 1791, for a twenty-year term, with initial funding proposed through $10 million in stock. The Philadelphia branch opened on December 12, 1791, and Thomas Willing was elected bank President on October 25, 1791.

Episodes

  1. 1789 · First Congress sessionCapitalization Through Stock Sales

    Hamilton proposed funding the bank through $10 million in stock sales, with the United States government purchasing the first $2 million in shares.

  2. circa 1790–1791 · Federal fiscal policy contextFiscal Program and Related Funding Measures

    The bank formed part of a three-part expansion of federal fiscal power; Hamilton also proposed raising duties on imported spirits and an excise on whiskey to meet government payment obligations.

  3. February 25, 1791 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then the national capitalCongressional Charter of February 25, 1791

    The United States Congress chartered the Bank of the United States for twenty years on February 25, 1791, and Washington signed the bank bill into law the same day.

  4. March 19 – December 12, 1791 · Carpenters' Hall, PhiladelphiaCommissioners, Leadership, and Opening

    Washington appointed three subscription commissioners on March 19, 1791; the Philadelphia branch opened December 12, 1791, operating from Carpenters' Hall, with Willing elected President in October.

Background and detail

Background. Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury, championed a national bank as part of a three-part expansion of federal fiscal and monetary power alongside a federal mint and excise taxes. He argued a bank was necessary to stabilize and improve the nation's credit and to handle the government's financial business under the newly enacted Constitution.

Charter Terms and Capital. Hamilton's plan, put before the first session of the First Congress in 1789, proposed funding the bank through the sale of $10 million in stock, with the United States government purchasing the first $2 million in shares. The charter would run twenty years, from 1791 to 1811, after which Congress could approve or deny renewal; during that period no other federal bank would be authorized, though states could charter intrastate banks freely.

Early Operations. The bank began operations in Carpenters' Hall in 1791, about 200 feet from its permanent home, while Philadelphia served as the national capital from 1790 to 1800. Thomas Willing was elected bank President on October 25, 1791, serving until his resignation for ill health on November 10, 1807. Branches opened in Boston, New York, Charleston, and Baltimore in 1792, with later branches in Norfolk, Savannah, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans.

People involved

Sources

  1. First Bank of the United States Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-12

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.