From Whence the Silver, The Role of Money in Colonial America

Historians have written much about the issues between Britain and its American colonies in the critical period between 1763 and 1776. Understandably, they have concentrated upon those areas where the conflict was most dramatic such as at the Boston Massacre, Lexington Green, and Concord Bridge. Middle school history teachers are fond of the rhythmic cadence of taxation without representation and the imagery of the Boston Tea Party, but the American Revolution was about more than taxes and tea. More mundane issues that may actually have carried greater moment have rarely been adequately explored. Such is the case with the availability of money and the legal status of paper currency and coinage in the colonies. In many of the colonies, these were underlying sources of discontent for much of the colonial period. This book delves into the background of these circumstances.