A Counterfeiter's Paradise (46 page)

162, Biddle proved a fast

First phase of Biddle’s tenure: Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, pp. 300–325, 374–375, and Kaplan,
The Bank of the United States
, pp. 81–83. According to Kaplan, when Biddle became president in January 1823, the Bank’s note circulation was $4.4 million; it had increased to $6.7 million by June 1825 and $9.6 million one year later.

162–163, In his first three

Stephen Mihm, in
A Nation of Counterfeiters: Capitalists, Con Men, and the Making of the United States
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007), p. 116, writes that by the late 1820s the Bank’s circulation exceeded $10 million and made up between a fifth and a quarter of all paper money in circulation. Counterfeiting of the Bank’s money and Biddle’s response: ibid., pp. 113–125.

163, Although counterfeiters posed

Rising entrepreneurial forces: Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, pp. 274–285. Under Cheves, the Bank took delinquent state banks to court. The Supreme Court sided with the Bank, entrenching Philadelphia’s power but deepening the hostility of the state banks.

163–164, General Andrew Jackson

Jackson’s life before the presidency: Sean Wilentz,
Andrew Jackson
(New York: Times Books, 2005), pp. 13–34. Failed bid for presidency in 1824 and election of 1828: ibid., pp. 35–54. Background of Jackson’s rise: Schlesinger,
The Age of Jackson
, pp. 30–44. The terms “People’s President” and “King Mob” were prompted by his 1829 inauguration, a legendary drunken celebration attended by thousands of ordinary people; see Robert V. Remini,
The Life of Andrew Jackson
(Perennial Classics, 2001 [1988]), pp. 179–182.

164, Among Jackson’s supporters

McFarland started the
Allegheny Democrat
in May 1824; he died in 1827. Inciting a crowd to burn Henry Clay in effigy: Klein,
Pennsylvania Politics
, pp. 185–187. Jackson’s popularity among the Scotch-Irish in Pennsylvania: ibid., pp. 249–250.

164–165, Jackson had campaigned

Jackson’s views on banking: Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, pp. 346–350. Jackson’s view of the Panic of 1819: Rothbard,
The Panic of 1819
, pp. 127–129.

165, Jackson’s tangled financial

Biddle’s early relationship with Jackson: Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, pp. 369–373, and Govan,
Nicholas Biddle
, pp. 111–121.

165, Among the factors

Reasons for Jackson’s assault on the Bank: Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, pp. 328–346, 351–366, 442–445; Govan,
Nicholas Biddle
, pp. 122–168; Mihm,
A Nation of Counterfeiters
, pp. 125–129; and Schlesinger,
The Age of Jackson
, pp. 79–94, 115–131. For a pro-Jackson point of view, see Wilentz,
Andrew Jackson
, pp. 74–85.
“I did not join…”:
quoted in Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, pp. 364–365.

166, The opening act

Full text of Jackson’s first annual message to Congress, delivered on December 8, 1829: Andrew Jackson,
Messages of Gen. Andrew Jackson: With a Short Sketch of His Life
(Concord, NH: John F. Brown and William White, 1837), pp. 39–68. Lead-up to the Bank War: Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, pp. 369–404.

166, The plan backfired

“It is to be regretted…”
and
“the rich richer…”:
Jackson,
Messages of Gen. Andrew Jackson
, p. 167; for the full text of the veto message, see pp. 147–168.

166–167, Voters embraced Jackson’s

Veto message’s popularity, the election of 1832, and the transfer of government deposits: Wilentz,
Andrew Jackson
, pp. 85–88; Schlesinger,
The Age of Jackson
, pp. 90–94, 97–102; and Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, pp. 405–423.

167, The day Jackson’s

“two distinct sets…”:
National Gazette
, September 26, 1833, quoted in Mihm,
A Nation of Counterfeiters
, pp. 141–142. Swift increase in notes and banks: Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, p. 453.

168, More paper, of course

Jackson’s pardoning of counterfeiters: Mihm,
A Nation of Counterfeiters
, pp. 133–134.

168, The great irony

“eager desire…”:
Andrew Jackson, “Farewell Address (March 4, 1837),”
The Statesmanship of Andrew Jackson
, ed. Francis Newton Thorpe (New York: Tandy-Thomas, 1909), pp. 506–507.
“moneyed interest…”:
ibid., p. 512; for the full text of the farewell address, see pp. 493–515. Specie Circular: Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, pp. 452–455, and Schlesinger,
The Age of Jackson
, pp. 129–131.

168–169, Rather than strengthening

The origins of the Panic of 1837 are disputed. Wilentz, in
Andrew Jackson
, pp. 119–120, casts doubt on the central role of the Specie Circular in precipitating the crisis. For an overview of the competing explanations for the Panic of 1837, see Peter L. Rousseau, “Jacksonian Monetary Policy, Specie Flows, and the Panic of 1837,”
Journal of Economic History
62.2 (June 2002), pp. 457–488. Rousseau, after reviewing new documentary evidence from government archives, concludes that two factors were principally to blame: the Specie Circular and “a series of ‘supplemental’ interbank transfers of public balances ordered by the Treasury under the Deposit Act of 23 June 1836 to prepare for the ‘official’ distribution of $28 million of the $34 million federal surplus.” The Deposit Act mandated the distribution of the federal surplus to state banks based on each state’s representation in Congress; Jackson had serious reservations about the bill but signed it into law.

169, In May, runs on

Suspension of coin payments in New York and the Panic’s impact: Mihm,
A Nation of Counterfeiters
, pp. 151–156, and Schlesinger,
The Age of Jackson
, pp. 217–226. New York riot: Schlesinger,
The Age of Jackson
, pp. 219–220, and “An Eyewitness Account of the Flour Riot in New York (February 1837),”
Voices of a People’s History of the United States
, ed. Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove (New York: Seven Stories, 2009 [2004]), pp. 198–200.

169–170, By the time

Nation doubling in size during Jackson’s administration: Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, p. 326. Free banking: ibid., pp. 572–604, 617–630; Mihm,
A Nation of Counterfeiters
, pp. 180–186; and Kevin Dowd, “U.S. Banking in the ‘Free Banking’ Period,”
The Experience of Free Banking
, ed. Kevin Dowd (London: Routledge, 1992), pp. 206–230. The first free banking law was passed in Michigan a few months after it gained statehood in January 1837; eighteen other states had passed similar laws by 1860. Stories of wildcat banks: Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, p. 601.

170, The uninhibited flow

Efforts by states to ban or severely restrict banking: Hammond,
Banks and Politics in America
, pp. 605–617. Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company and prevalence of unincorporated banks: ibid., pp. 613–614, 625–626.

170–171, Then there were

Western counterfeiters: Mihm,
A Nation of Counterfeiters
, pp. 158–208. Practice of resurrecting notes of bankrupt banks and other moneymaking techniques: ibid., pp. 286–294. On p. 156, Mihm writes, “While a banker in the East might be compared to a counterfeiter, it was not uncommon for a counterfeiter in the West to be likened to a banker, thanks to the public service he provided by pumping much-needed money into a developing economy.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

175, On February 22, 1862

Scene in Washington:
Philadelphia Inquirer
, February 26, 1862;
North American and United States Gazette
, February 24, 1862; Edward Bates,
The Diary of Edward Bates, 1859–1866
, ed. Howard K. Beale (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1933), pp. 235–236; Albert Gallatin Riddle,
Recollections of War Times: Reminiscences of Men and Events in Washington, 1860–1865
(New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1895), pp. 183–186; and Ernest B. Furgurson,
Freedom Rising: Washington in the Civil War
(New York: Knopf, 2004), p. 158. President Lincoln was absent from the ceremonies at the Capitol because of the recent death of his son Willie.

175–176, Not all celebrations

There are two images of Upham. The first is an engraving by David Scattergood, from a photograph by Gilbert & Bacon, included as the frontispiece to Samuel Curtis
Upham,
Notes of a Voyage to California via Cape Horn, Together with Scenes in El Dorado, in the Years 1849–’50
(New York: Arno, 1973 [1878]). The second is a group portrait taken in 1877 of the Associated Pioneers of the Territorial Days of California, held by the Robert B. Honeyman Jr. Collection of Early Californian and Western American Pictorial Material, the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Physical description of Upham: from his 1879 passport application, accessed through an online database on
Ancestry.com
,
U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925
, drawn from microfilm records housed at the National Archives. Philadelphia celebration:
Philadelphia Inquirer
, February 24, 1862, and
North American and United States Gazette
, February 24, 1862
. “a blaze of glory…”:
North American and United States Gazette
, February 24, 1862. For views of the facade of 403 Chestnut Street, see the images taken from Philadelphia business directories reproduced by the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings Project,
http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org
.

176, On Monday morning

Upham’s home and work addresses:
McElroy’s Philadelphia City Directory for 1862
(Philadelphia: E. C. & J. Biddle, A. McElroy, 1862), available on microfilm at the Philadelphia City Archives. Upham discusses how he started printing reproductions (significantly, he doesn’t use the word “counterfeits”) of Confederate notes in a letter dated October 12, 1874, to author William Lee, who includes it in
The Currency of the Confederate States of America, a Description of the Various Notes, Their Dates of Issue, Varieties, Series, Sub-Series, Letters, Numbers, Etc.; Accompanied with Photographs of the Distinct Varieties of Each Issue
(Washington, DC: Published by the author, 1875), pp. 24–25. The
Inquirer
’s history: J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott,
History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884
, vol. 3 (Philadelphia: L. H. Everts, 1884), pp. 1992–1994.

176–177, The answer was

The $5 bill was printed by the Southern Bank Note Company at New Orleans and belonged to the September 2, 1861, issue of Confederate notes. The original had been engraved in steel, but the
Inquirer
had to reproduce it in woodcut, causing the quality to deteriorate; see Brent Hughes,
The Saga of Sam Upham: “Yankee Scoundrel,”
rev. ed. (Inman, SC: Published by the author, 1988), p. 8.

177, The note promised

“Those who entertain…”:
Philadelphia Inquirer
, February 24, 1862. I’m grateful to Marc D. Weidenmier and George B. Tremmel for clarification on this point.

177, Upham wasted no time

Story of Upham’s first print run: from his letter to William Lee, reproduced in
The Currency of the Confederate States of America
, pp. 24–25. It’s unclear exactly when Upham began his facsimile trade. While the $5 note appeared in the
Philadelphia Inquirer
on February 24, 1862, he claims in his 1874 letter to Lee that he didn’t begin printing facsimiles until March 12, 1862. Since twelve years had passed, his memory may be mistaken on this point. The
Inquirer
building: Scharf and Westcott,
History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884
, vol. 3, p. 1993.

178, Ever since the

There was a thriving trade in patriotic envelopes in the early years of the war. The Print Department of the Library Company of Philadelphia has thousands of these items in its “Civil War Envelope Collection, 1861–1865,” with a wide assortment printed by Upham, including
“A full length drawing of Jeff. Davis…”

178, After the success

Upham’s letter to William Lee describes him finding the note in
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper
, although Upham misremembers when the bill appeared: it ran in the January 11, 1862, edition.

179, Now with two

“a curiosity…worth preserving”:
Philadelphia Inquirer
, February 24, 1862.

180, Upham was born

Upham’s birth and childhood: F. K. Upham,
Upham Genealogy: The Descendants of John Upham of Massachusetts
(Albany, NY: J. Munsell’s Sons, 1892), pp. 349–351. Upham’s parents: ibid., pp. 240–241. Upham recalls his childhood home near the Green Mountains in S. C. Upham,
Notes of a Voyage to California via Cape Horn
, p. 54. Upham’s uncle William: F. K. Upham,
Upham Genealogy
, pp. 235–240, and Walter Hill Crockett,
Vermont: The Green Mountain State
, vol. 3 (New York: Century History Company, 1921), pp. 332–333, 381–384.
“He had gotten nothing…”:
William H. Seward,
The Works of William H. Seward
, vol. 1, ed. George E. Baker (New York: Redfield, 1853), p. 388.

180–181, Few families traced

John Upham: Albert G. Upham,
Family History: Notices on the Life of John Upham
(Concord, NH: Asa McFarland, 1845), pp. 5–20. John Upham’s descendants:
F. K. Upham,
Upham Genealogy
. Charles Wentworth Upham: ibid., pp. 201–218. Dispute between Charles Wentworth Upham and Nathaniel Hawthorne: Bryan F. Le Beau, “Foreword,” Charles Wentworth Upham,
Salem Witchcraft
(Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2000), pp. xxvi–xxviii.