Portal:Philadelphia/Selected picture archive/11

First Bank of the United States, 2007

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. The bank was the successor to the Bank of North America, the nation's first de facto central bank. The bank was established to expand federal fiscal and monetary power, as promoted by Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton believed a national bank was necessary to stabilize and improve the nation's credit, and to improve handling of the financial business of the United States government under the newly enacted Constitution. Completed in 1797, the First Bank building is located within Independence National Historical Park, and is a National Historic Landmark for its historic and architectural significance.