Infiltration: Left-Wing Greenbackers Inside the Conservative Movement
For almost 50 years, I have been doing research on the peculiar left-wing movement called the Greenback movement.
Beginning in the 1870s, the Greenback movement began agitating for the extension of fiat paper money by the federal government. It opposed the return to the gold standard. When the federal government returned to the gold standard in 1879, the Greenbackers created a political party to fight it.
Because the Greenbackers oppose the Federal Reserve System, their fiat money ideas have gotten into the conservative movement. Libertarians know better than to entrust the federal government with the right to create money, whether it is directly in charge of fiat money or whether it uses a central bank to do its work for it. But conservatives are easy marks for these people, because they are unfamiliar with basic economic theory, and some of them do not like the Federal Reserve System.
As I've said for over 40 years, the Greenbackers rely heavily on fake quotations to bolster their position. They have invented these quotations for a century. The quotations get picked up in book after book, written by greenback promoters who know nothing about the basics of historical research, which matches the fact that they know nothing about basic economic theory. They combine total ignorance about economic theory with ignorance about historical research. They get lots of converts, who prefer ignorance to a little hard study.
It is a small cult movement within the conservative movement. I do not expect it to go away, but I do what I can oppose it.
I have always somewhat amused by people who are followers of Abraham Lincoln, and who write to me telling me that Abraham Lincoln opposed central banking. The fact that he always promoted in public, and the fact that he told Congress in 1863 that he would accept no more greenback currency, never penetrates their minds. They are absolute disciples of Lincoln, and they are absolute disciples of fiat money. They are therefore easy prey for Greenbackers.
Recently, I wrote an article about Lincoln's early support of a central bank. This support never wavered.
I showed how immigrant banker Paul Warburg cited Lincoln as a way to prove that Warburg's proposed central bank was really American. He was told that citing Lincolm gains support for any idea. Lincoln is an icon. So, no matter what, cite him.
The Greenbackers have always known this. So they make up quotes, put his name on them, and publish them. This has gone on for at least 80 years.
Here is a letter I received from a pro-Lincoln Greenbacker.
Dear Mr. North,To begin, I would like to say that I am a long time subscriber to Tea Party Economist, and it is primarily due to your articles. I have also been a supporter of Dr. Paul since the 1970's. I voted for him in the presidential election in 1980. He is the reason for the Tea Party movement, from it's inception (www.teaparty07.com).
I should also like to mention that I was "Birched" in 1976, and although I did not join, I attended their annual dinners for more than a decade.
In regard to your piece titled "Abraham Lincoln and the Federal Reserve System: A Forgotten Connection", I have a comment.
I very much concur that Lincoln did, as you say, support a central/national bank from the beginning of his political career. I am no fan of Lincoln. I believe he was a despot, a traitor, and deserved to be tried as such.
That said, did he not possibly see the error of his ways? I have been given to believe that he made the following remark:
"I cannot fight two wars at the same time; the Confederates in the front and the bankers in the rear, but of the two, the Confederates are the more honorable. I see in the future a crisis arising that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. The money-power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in the hands of a few and the Republic destroyed. I feel more anxiety for my country than ever before, even in the midst of war."
Perhaps it was an act of false contrition.
The John Birch Society was an early target of the Greenbackers. In 1966, I lectured to a West Los Angeles Birch chapter on Greenbackism. I had been invited to speak by a member who knew that a pair of Greenbackers had joined the group and were promoting the position. They departed before the meeting ended. They were smart enough to know that they were my targets.
Gary Allen was the main anti-Federal Reserve author for the Birch Society's monthly magazine, American Opinion, after 1965. He was a friend of mine. He favored a gold standard. But his anti-FED stand attracted Greenbackers like moths to a flame.
I sent back this note.
The quote is bogus.Here are the facts.
I sent it at 10:19 on September 26.
At 10:52, I received a letter from another Greenbacker.
Gary: I was unaware of Lincoln's early support of a central bank.I believe, near the end of his life, he changed his position.
After prosecuting the civil war and borrowing money from banks, at what Lincoln called "confiscatory rates" he even tried a new currency - greenbacks.
Greenbacks obviously failed. I think it shows his frustration with banks. I have even heard theories that it was the reason for his assassination, he was trying to start a currency backed by the US government, not the banking system.
This is the Greenbackers' version of the deathbed conversion of atheists to Christianity. You heard these stories endlessly in the late 19th century. Always, there is no primary source document record of this conversion, but the proponent is absolutely convinced that conversion took place.
Greenbackers are relentless. They are deeply entrenched in the conservative movement. They do not often advance into leadership positions, but they are there, doing what they can to undermine the idea of a gold-based currency system.
For anyone wanting a refutation of their position economically, go here: //www.garynorth.com/public/department143.cfm
For anyone wanting a list of bogus quotations, go here: //www.garynorth.com/public/department142.cfm
For anyone who wants a free copy of my mini-book on Greenbackism, go here: http://mises.org/books/coogin_north.pdf