WASHINGTON, Jan. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 7: FIRST U.S. BANK
Profile America - Saturday, January 7th. The first chartered American bank opened its doors on this date in Philadelphia in 1782. The Bank of North America, established by Congress, helped reduce some of the financial chaos that marked the Colonial Era. Britain had enforced a shortage of official coinage to carry out everyday activities - a policy that helped provoke the American Revolution. In North Carolina alone, there were 17 different forms of currency circulating before the Revolution. And in Virginia, tobacco was used as currency for over 200 years. Now, there are more than 95,000 commercial and savings banks across the U.S. Together, these institutions have more than $13 trillion of assets. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.
Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2012, p. 77
440 International Calendar, Those Were the Days
Statistical Abstract of United States 2012, t. 1177
Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
