Second Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the United States was the second federally authorized Hamiltonian national bank in the United States. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the bank was chartered from February 1816 to January 1836. The bank's formal name, according to section 9 of its charter as passed by Congress, was "The President, Directors, and Company, of the Bank of the United States". While other banks in the US were chartered by and only allowed to have branches in a single state, it was authorized to have branches in multiple states and lend money to the US government.
The north façade of the bank on Chestnut St.
An 1824 draft on the bank written and signed by Daniel Webster, its attorney and the director of the Boston branch
A promissory note issued by the Second Bank of the United States, December 15, 1840, for the amount of $1,000
A Democratic cartoon from 1833 showing Jackson destroying the Second Bank with his "Order for the Removal", to the approval of the Uncle Sam-like figure to the right, and the annoyance of the bank's president, shown as the Devil himself. Numerous politicians and editors who were given favorable loans from the bank run for cover as the financial temple crashes down.
First Bank of the United States
The President, Directors and Company of the Bank of the United States, commonly known as the First Bank of the United States, was a national bank, chartered for a term of twenty years, by the United States Congress on February 25, 1791. It followed the Bank of North America, the nation's first de facto national bank. However, neither served the functions of a modern central bank: They did not set monetary policy, regulate private banks, hold their excess reserves, or act as a lender of last resort. They were national insofar as they were allowed to have branches in multiple states and lend money to the US government. Other banks in the US were each chartered by, and only allowed to have branches in, a single state.
3rd Street façade
John Lewis Krimmel, Winter Scene in Philadelphia (ca.1813)
Bank of the United States check signed by John Jacob Astor in 1792