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Greenback: How the Dollar Came to Rule the World Episodes

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  1. The Missing Ingredient

    5/5 Examining the circumstances that led to the establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1913.

  2. Greenbacks and Goldbugs

    4/5 Before the Civil War, any bank could issue its own dollar bills - good for counterfeiters.

  3. The First and Second Banks

    3/5 Graham Ingham traces the attempts in 1791 and 1816 to establish a central bank.

  4. Not Worth a Continental

    2/5 In 1785, the leaders of the new republic declare the dollar will be the monetary unit.

  5. From Wampums to Spanish Reals

    1/5 In the 17th century, the first colonists traded with native Americans using cowrie shells.