"Confederate Heritage" license plate?

[greenmachine]

Who (besides Anoriginal) knows where the term "greenbacks" came from and why it was used (also occurred in the deep South during this period) ?

The eurotrash banks had the US by the little hairs financially. Honest Abe printed 450 million bills of government legal tender in green ink & paid his soldiers with them to help win the war & lose the dependence of euro banks. Hence the term greenbacks. Thats all I got.

[mudnuri]

Who (besides Anoriginal) knows where the term "greenbacks" came from and why it was used (also occurred in the deep South during this period) ?

Actually, gold and silver were the norm in trade. There were different types of promisory notes, but the gov't only paid out in gold/silver. That was the law. Then when the South had finally had enough of the BS the North was trying force on us, the Civil war broke out and it was expensive. Gold began to dwindle in the reserves due to citzens hoarding it.
Sorry to quote, but "On February 25, 1862, Congress passed the first Legal Tender Act, which authorized the printing of $150 million in Treasury notes. The bills were printed on only one side with green ink and soon became known as "greenbacks".
Abe Lincoln was just in office as President.

[gery350]

The beginnings of many words are obscure, but we know exactly when greenback entered the vocabulary of American English. It was in the Civil War year of 1862, after a year of fighting had made it clear to officials in Washington that there would be no quick victory and vast additional resources would be needed. Paper money was already in circulation, issued by state banks, but the federal government had restricted itself to coins, and coins were fast disappearing under the pressures of war. On February 25, therefore, for the first time in history, the United States Congress approved the issue of paper money backed not with gold or silver but simply with the full faith and credit of the government, and valid for all debts, public and private (except duties on imports and interest on the public debt).

But why greenback? Because of a precaution against the common practices of altering and counterfeiting paper money. To prevent these, a patented ink had been devised that was difficult to erase and also difficult to imitate because it had a secret formula. Being green instead of the usual black, it was also difficult to photograph. The Secretary of the Treasury ordered this special ink to be used for one side of the new notes. Because of the distinctive color on the back of the notes, the Union soldiers who received them in pay began calling them greenbacks, and soon everyone else called them greenbacks too. The blue or gray Confederate money similarly became known as bluebacks and graybacks.

From that time to the present, all U.S. paper money has had a green back, making green the color of money. So we have coined terms like green itself meaning "money" (1898), green handshake (1975), "a bribe or tip," and Greenmail (1983), a play on blackmail. In recent years, green has also been used for a quite different purpose: to describe those who have concern for the natural environment (1971), but the connection of green with money will remain as long as the green stuff (1887) is in circulation.


yeah i wrote that myself.

[Able]

Great job Gery   

although paper money was already in use there was a HUGE problem with counterfitting sepecially in the South. Although they were together in the fight against the North, initially they all had seperate laws and currency. during the time of the war people were making their own left and right and passing it off which further devestated an already troubled economy. But with so much going toward the war effort counterfitting was not only a way to prosperity, but to survival for some. And with all the different paper money that was floating around due to the seperate, yet linked economies of the South it was all too easy to make some up and say it was from another Southern state and get away with it. Eventually the green color was added to distinguish counterfit money from the real thing. This was initially done in the South in an attempt to thwart counterfitting and hopefully stabilize the economy. With the old varied color paper money still lingering, people sought the green die as assurance that the notes were legit. And with the green color making its debut on the back of the bills the name "greenbacks" was used and stuck.

Anoriginal - sorry I excluded you, but in light of your earlier posts and in depth knowledge I wanted to give someone else a crack at it.

[Anoriginal]

Anoriginal - sorry I excluded you, but in light of your earlier posts and in depth knowledge I wanted to give someone else a crack at it.

No problem man! I enjoyed the post and the responses. That was a good question and good info for everyone. Something I hadn't thought about in a while.

As an aside, "Greenbacks" also refers to an early political party and was a spin off from the Independant Party. This is the party that, after the civil war championed the federal government's control over money along with the eight hour work day, income taxes and women's sufferage. The Greenbacks were really only around as a political party in the 1870's as I seem to recall.

[bigscrub79]

Anoriginal - sorry I excluded you, but in light of your earlier posts and in depth knowledge I wanted to give someone else a crack at it.

No problem man! I enjoyed the post and the responses. That was a good question and good info for everyone. Something I hadn't thought about in a while.

As an aside, "Greenbacks" also refers to an early political party and was a spin off from the Independant Party. This is the party that, after the civil war championed the federal government's control over money along with the eight hour work day, income taxes and women's sufferage. The Greenbacks were really only around as a political party in the 1870's as I seem to recall.

Well excuse us Mr. Smartypants.

[mudnuri]

They were only printed on one side.

[FishaHallic]

Why do I have the feeling we are all gonna get a homework assignment for the weekend  ?

[Able]

Anoriginal - sorry I excluded you, but in light of your earlier posts and in depth knowledge I wanted to give someone else a crack at it.

No problem man! I enjoyed the post and the responses. That was a good question and good info for everyone. Something I hadn't thought about in a while.

As an aside, "Greenbacks" also refers to an early political party and was a spin off from the Independant Party. This is the party that, after the civil war championed the federal government's control over money along with the eight hour work day, income taxes and women's sufferage. The Greenbacks were really only around as a political party in the 1870's as I seem to recall.

Thanks for that! I had totally forgotten that the term was associated with the political party and helped establish some of what we now see as standards.

[Able]

They were only printed on one side.

The greenbacks were only printed on one side, however there were so many different varieties of currency floating around from state to state the die was the discriminating factor. Each state had it's own currency initially so one could manufacture his own bill and cross a border and use it quite readily, or simply make a bill and claim it was issued by a neighboring state. Also with so much of the South's economic means being directed to the war (basically all of it) there was little put into the perfection of printing. This enabled many to get away with counterfitting due to the poor quality of the legitimate currency. Which is why the advent of the greenback had such a profound impact and began the unification of the Southern economy, and the idea of green dyed money was adopted by the nation as a whole at a later date.

[Bigscrb15]

good lord, google has got to be busy with these searches for you guys.

[Able]

Actually, my posts are from memory of some old American History classes I took before getting my major nailed down in college 

[Able]

OK the next Civil war era trivia.....  Who were the "Copperheads" ? and what was their position before the war ? and what was the official name of their political party ?

[Anoriginal]

Able:

Another great question.

I won't answer entirely other than to say that they were originally part of a currently popular party, were suprisingly sympathetic to the confederacy and often referred to as the butternuts

[Able]

Thanks for not blowing it out of the water as you obviously could. Great hint and additional information.

[sbripple]

Florida is a confederate state.even though lincoln decided to ignore the constitutional right to secede it still happened and florida never rejoined the union.This is a confederate state and the flag belongs over the capital.I fly one in my yard,will buy the tag and if it bthers you then you need a history lesson or directions to i-95 north.We are currently living under northern occupation in the confederacy.The tag is great.About time.No matter how many carpet baggers we have pestering us ,we  are still here.

[z400]

Long live the Confederacy!!!

[mud.junkie]

Yes i would buy one as my rear window is tinted with flag and my atv's have them too. Having the confederate flag is part of my heritage and i am PROUD of it.Just as i am PROUD to be an AMERICAN.

[lisa]

   I am a yankee transplant. It took me a long time, but I finally totally embraced the South and all it stands for. It took a long time not because I didn't agree with what ya'll say, but because I grew up living a different philosophy. However, that philosophy also dictated that I not be a hypocrit, hence the change in attitude.

   My epiphany came when I contemplated dog hunting. Where I lived, a dog that ran deer was shot. However, being a farmer's daughter, I knew all about people moving into an area, then trying to tell those who lived there first how to live, what they should do, how they should do it, etc. I felt I didn't have the right to tell folks who have been hunting with dogs all their lives, nay for generations, they shouldn't hunt dogs anymore, just because my upbringing didn't agree with it.

   Here I am now, fighting for the rights of everyone to have access to their public lands. I would fight for the Southern way of life right now as well. The Confederate Flag does not stand for slavery, it stands for anyone who has ever been told by his neighbors how he should live, what his property should look like, that they can't walk out their front door in their underwear, scratch their privates and drink their beer at 9:00 am! (I don't want to see 75% of you guys do that myself, but if I don't want to see it, I don't have to look OR live near you!)

   Just my thoughts.....

[Palmettobay_recon]

I'm all for the confederate flag! I'm not racist, I have friends of all races and they understand that I represent the confederate flag with pride and they take no offence to it. If someone does take offence to it they could kiss my butt because they must not know me or what I'm about. They also must not know the several things a rebel flag represents. In my opinion if anyone can have a tag of their heritage so can we. I will buy a confederate flag liscence plate in a heart beat!

[FishaHallic]