A German U-boat torpedoed the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania about 11 nautical miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, sinking the ship in just 18 minutes and killing approximately 1,200 of nearly 2,000 passengers and crew, including 128 Americans. The Germans had circulated warnings that the …
RMS LusitaniaGerman NavyBritish GovernmentJP Morgan & Co.American passengerswar-profiteeringworld-war-ijp-morganpropagandacorporate-negligence
In August 1914, as World War I erupted in Europe, JP Morgan & Co. approached the U.S. government about making loans to the French Government and the Rothschilds. Despite Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan’s principled position that “loans by American bankers to any foreign …
JP Morgan & Co.British GovernmentFrench GovernmentThomas LamontPresident Woodrow Wilson+1 morewar-profiteeringbanking-consolidationjp-morganworld-war-ifinancial-capture
President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act at 6:00 p.m., creating the Federal Reserve System as the central banking system of the United States. The need for a central bank became evident during the Panic of 1907, when the federal government lacked tools to respond and had to depend on …
President Woodrow WilsonCarter GlassRobert Latham OwenJP MorganWilliam Jennings Bryanbanking-consolidationprogressive-erafinancial-regulationfederal-reservejp-morgan
John Pierpont Morgan, the seventy-five-year-old financier who had dominated American banking for decades, died at the Grand Hotel in Rome. House of Morgan partners blamed his death on the stress of testifying before the Pujo Committee in December 1912, though other health factors were involved. …
JP MorganPujo CommitteeSamuel UntermyerHouse of Morganbanking-consolidationprogressive-erafinancial-capturecongressional-investigationjp-morgan
The U.S. House Committee on Banking and Currency subcommittee headed by Rep. Arsène Pujo of Louisiana began hearings to investigate the “money trust”—a concentrated group of Wall Street bankers exerting powerful control over the nation’s finances. The investigation arose from …
Arsène PujoSamuel UntermyerJP MorganGeorge F. BakerJames E. Stillman+1 morebanking-consolidationprogressive-erafinancial-capturejp-morgancongressional-investigation
Senator Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island, chairman of the National Monetary Commission, submitted his “Suggested Plan for Monetary Legislation” proposing creation of a National Reserve Association to reform the nation’s banking system. The plan emerged from a secret November 1910 …
Nelson AldrichJP Morgan interestsPaul WarburgFrank VanderlipNational Monetary Commissionbanking-consolidationprogressive-erafinancial-capturejp-morganfederal-reserve