mạnh mẽ để chiếm hữu đất phía Nam thông qua một hình thức tịch thu nhà. Cũng không hệ thống ngân hàng quốc gia ngăn chặn các ngân hàng lớn và khủng hoảng kinh tế sau đó. Tuy nhiên, hệ thống làm việc tốt, đủ rằng nó không thay thế cho tới năm 1913 khi Quốc hội thông qua Đạo luật Dự trữ Liên bang. | 342 Banking Development and Regulation powerful as to take possession of southern lands through a form of foreclosure. Nor did the national banking system prevent major banking and economic crises thereafter. Still the system worked well enough that it was not replaced until 1913 when Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act. The Federal Reserve System 1913 to 1933 As the United States experienced what seemed to be uncontrollable financial panics and economic depressions frustration with America s financial system intensified. The depression of the 1890s was especially severe in its impact on unemployment prices and economic productivity. Scarcity of currency became a serious problem as businessmen sought to protect themselves against economic uncertainty by withdrawing their funds from banks. Bank suspensions commonly ensued until Congress passed the Aldrich-Vreeland Act of 1908 that provided for the organization of national currency associations. The law also set up a National Monetary Commission to study the currency problem. It was through such studies that Congress finally acted in 1913 to create the Federal Reserve System. The legislation appears in the Documents section of this volume. Originally the Federal Reserve the Fed divided the United States into 12 regional districts with a Federal Reserve Bank in each. Headed by a Federal Reserve Board the system was controlled by the member banks with some such as the New York Federal Reserve exerting significant authority and influence. The system was particularly attractive because member banks would regulate each other and had authority to issue Federal Reserve notes that would serve as a national currency. Undoubtedly this arrangement was a major improvement over what existed before. Between the time of its founding and the outbreak of the Great Depression in 1929 the Fed made a decent showing. It did fairly well during World War I in stabilizing economic activity and government borrowing. Between 1923 and 1929
