Levi Woodbury

Jackson Issues Specie Circular Requiring Hard Money for Land Purchases, Triggering Credit Contraction

| Importance: 7/10

President Andrew Jackson orders Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury to issue the Specie Circular, an executive order requiring that payment for public lands be made exclusively in gold or silver (specie) rather than paper currency, effective August 15, 1836 for purchases over 320 acres. The policy aims …

Andrew Jackson Levi Woodbury Martin Van Buren U.S. Treasury Department Land speculators financial-manipulation economic-policy jackson-era banking-system land-speculation +1 more
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