The Origins of the National Banking System The Chase-Cooke Connection and the New York City Banks

摘要

Monetary legislation is often not created in a vacuum separate from the special interests who stand to benefit. This paper has argued that the origins of the National Banking System was due primarily to the special relationship between Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase and investment banker Jay Cooke, and the system survived only because of Cooke's help and a revision to the National Banking Act in 1864 that spurred the formation of national banks in New York City. Through his personal background and his financial acumen, Cooke became the main subscriber of Union bonds in 1862. That the new national banks would increase the demand for his bonds and increase his sales gave Cooke an enormous incentive to help convince Senator John Sherman of the need for the National Banking Act and to lobby the act through Congress in the winter of 1863. Cooke also later profited by helping to establish new national banks, including a large one in New York City, which later became one of the largest bankers' banks in the city.