Chapter II

[And as distress and embarrassment equally pervaded those states where there were none, it is absurd to ascribe the evil to those institutions where they existed.]

In North Carolina there were two emissions of paper money, with a legal tender, from 1783 to 1787. They depreciated fifty per cent. in a short time.

The following extracts will convey a tolerably adequate idea of the state of affairs during the period embraced in this chapter, and exonerate me from the charge of exaggeration. They cannot fail to be worthy the attention of such of our statesmen as are disposed to trace national calamities to their proper causes, in order to guard against their return at a future period.

“In every part of these states, the scarcity of money has become a common subject of complaint. This does not seem to be an imaginary grievance, like that of hard times, of which men have complained in all ages of the world. The misfortune is general, and in many cases it is severely felt. The scarcity of money is so great, or the difficulty of paying debts has been so common, that riots and combinations have been formed in many places, and the operations of civil government have been suspended.”

“Goods were imported to a much greater amount than could be consumed or paid for”.