Stop me if you have heard this before ... a far right, xenophobic, white supremacy cult turned political party hired street brawlers to come to Washington, DC to overturn the results of an election.  The DC police were overwhelmed and the US military had to be called in to restore order. When it was over ten people were dead, the street brawlers escaped prosecution and an investigation into the riot was blocked by political maneuvering.       Right wing newspapers claimed the street brawlers were just peaceful tourists and that the government had over reacted, terrorizing and murdering peaceful tourists who were merely expressing the American rights to free expression. Moderate and left wing newspapers were outraged, calling for strict and vigorous Federal prosecution of all those involved.  I refer, of course, to the May 1857 riots in Washington, DC. (Oh, you thought I was talking about January 6, 2021 riots.)        In May 1857,  an extremist political  party hired  a  crimina

Shinplasters and Greenbacks  The Origin of the Specie      Before 1863, the Federal government did not issue    paper money . The Federal government minted coins only , referred to in bulk as “specie.”      Specie was real money; “bank notes,” paper money issued by banks  promised payment to the bearer in specie when presented.   President Andrew  J ackson’s  vigorous campaign in the 1830s to  create  a national bank had been bitterly fought and defeated by the banks.  Now, they remained  lightly regulated if at all, so some banks reserved adequate amounts of specie in their vaults to cover bank notes they  issued,  and others did not.        This produced a dizzying amount of exchange rates  for people carrying paper money.  Newspapers published exchange rates – c alled discount rates—of banks from one state to the other. South Carolina banks might  be accepting Alabama banks’ notes at 3%  discount,   i.e.  a person in South Carolina presenting an  Alabama  $10 bank note for specie wo