Foundation

• The First Bank of the United States was championed by Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist Party as a way to deal with America's vast debts from the Revolutionary War. Before the bank's foundation, state banks issued America's currency. In 1971, George Washington signed a bill into effect chartering the bank for 20 years' time. The building housing the bank was completed in 1795. It is the oldest neoclassical building in the United States as well as the nation's oldest bank building.
  
  

Early Years

• The First Bank of the United States issued 25,000 shares as its first offering. Of these, 18,000 shares went to British investors. The act was not without controversy. Many of America's Founding Fathers, such as Thomas Jefferson, objected to the bank on the grounds that the Constitution did not explicitly authorize the government to have a national bank. Further adding to the controversy was the fact that the majority of stock was held by British shareholders.
  
  

Notable Events

• In 1792, the market became flooded with currency due to the number of new loans issued by the First Bank of the United States. This caused unsustainable speculation, culminating in the Panic of 1792. The panic is perhaps the most notable event of the bank's history. The remaining years were largely uneventful. Other highlights include the financial management of the Louisiana Purchase. The national bank also regulated state banking by controlling the amount of currency.
  
  

End of the First National Bank

• The First Bank of the United States did not outlive the duration of its initial charter. The bank was never able to shake the controversy of British ownership and the specter of the Panic of 1792 never fully disappeared. By 1811, the Federalist Party, which championed the creation of the bank, had all but disappeared. This left the Democratic-Republican Party, fierce opponents of the bill, the main party in Congress.