Paper Money Effects on the Colonies Essay

During the colonial period in most of the colonies, there was always a shortage in the availability of ready money and this is a situation that really affected the various colonial powers. One of the main examples is extracted from a situation wherein the British colony the amount of the British coin and also the currency that was circulating within the colony was really small compared to the amount of the business transaction that had to be performed.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The use and the availability of the paper money to a great extent revolutionized various types of trade within the American colonies. The presence and the use of the paper money enable the various colonies to generate a significant amount of wealth through the use of a system that was referred to as the colonial scrip. Benjamin Franklin really advanced and emphasizes the idea of paper money and its usage, he worked at the same time as a printer of the paper money and to a great extent the use of the paper money as an excellent option and of great help to the colonies. In addition to the above ideas, during the time of his proposal in the use of paper money he generally believes that through the use of paper money, it would be really possible for the colonies to attain independence from England. This is one way or the other forms one of the basic necessities which really acts as a primary source in explaining the importance of the paper money.

During the colonial period in the various colonies, before the general introduction of the paper money, most of the available trading activities were done in terms of gold and silver and at the same time there was the barter trade system that was also preferred by other trading partners even though its accountability was really difficult to analyze. Various traders would exchange their goods with gold and silver which on several occasions acts as the main source of payment. Barter trade, on the other hand, was the exchange of goods with another commodity between different traders and various colonies. But according to Franklin who was the major innovator in the use of the paper money in England, he bitterly argued that most of the colonies were doing great and better in the economy in comparison to the Enlandland economy because they adopted the use of their own paper money and this in real sense makes their trading activities to be very easy and simple to accomplish. This generally means that the trading activities were made very simple through the exchange of goods and services through the use of paper money which really resulted in a better economy and also a better-developed community. Colonies, therefore, did not really rely on England for money and this, therefore, leads to the establishment of a stronger economy.

The use of paper money really changes how the general population viewed the money and the currency system. The introduction of paper money turned out to be beneficial for most of the colonies since the new currency was more reliable compared to the previous forms of economic exchange. This was really important as it really easen the whole process of the variose business transaction that did occurred within the trading system of the various colonies. Some of the benefits associated with paper money included its ability to be regulated and stabilized in the economy. The new currency made the exchange of goods easy, and it had more resources suitable for backing it. Paper money was an effective means of economic trade, and it also catered for the shortages in supply of coins from the British government. However, it had its fair share of negatives as its unregulated use could lead to a significant economic breakdown among the colonies.

The use of this type of money within the colonies has really enabled the lenders to really expand their boundaries of the usable money pool. Paper money also became more popular among the colonists since it was easily portable. In contrast to the paper money, barter trade was more difficult since some goods were not mobile. Paper money is more manageable and can be divided into smaller units for convenience and easy transportation. This made it easy for traders to give take value for their goods and to transact with the correct payments. This was of great importance as compared to the barter trade in which goods and services were exchanged with other commodities which in most cases may not be equal or worth the exchange and this lead to some items being divided into smaller scale for unit trade which was not that convenient Through the use of this more investment and businesses operation was enabled within the colonies through the provision of loans or even the provision of enough money to the available direct business sector which really make the small-scale businesses within the colonies to be very successful and this really empowered them. The use of paper money within the colonies did not in any way require the availability or the presence of the metals and this was very important and even of more significance in relation to the fact that the world was moving out of the gold standard and the most significant point of the paper money both to the colonies and to the world at large.

During the colonial period, the main form of currency that exists was quite challenging to work with because it really possess risky situation and at the same time it was very costly as compared to the paper money. The form of currency which was mainly existing in the form of either gold or silver were very risky to the traders due to the fact that they were highly valuable and expensive and this poses the traders from attack by the thieves. It was really a very expensive form of exchange and really lead to the retardation of various business activities and trading activities within the colonies leading to retard development within those particular colonies. In relation to the above shortcomings of the various forms of currency it was realized that paper money was one of the best ways to enhance trade within the colonies due to the fact that it was not such an expensive form of currency and was affordable and at the same time easy to access and thus really boost the various trading activities that were being carried out within the colonies. This really enhances development activities within the colonies and at the same time enabled them to have power as they were having the ability to control the economy too.

During the colonial error, the high value and demand of the gold and silver in most cases attracted more foreign trade and this in several ways really interfere with the availability of the currency as they run short in supply in various colonies. This was really a great blow to the business community due to the fact that medium of exchange was always regarded as the determiner of the performance of any form of business activity. Paper money and its general usage within the colonies did come up with many benefits and this was both to the colonies and to the traders. This was very useful to the development of the colonies as the business operation within the colony is what really determine both the economic and infrastructural development of any particular state.

The use of the paper money in such places like Virginia and at the same in other colonies created a significant amount of problems, however. This is due to the fact that by the end of the 17th century there was quite significant amount of paper currency that was really circulating in North America and the main problem arises that however almost all of them were dominated in pounds, shillings, and pence they were not in any way equal in value. This really affected the trading system and also various business activities as the exchange mode of the operation of the various business transaction were quite different and a little bit challenging now that there were no uniformity or equality of the value of the paper money that was mainly produced to make business transaction simple and easy to enhance the development of the various colonies. The other problem that accompanied the production of the paper in the colonies was that the paper money was really easy and simple to counterfeit and this was a problem that was encountered and even made the American government to change the design of the money from time to time in order to encounter the problem.

One of the main reasons why the colonies decided and really work hard to use the paper money in relation to the coins from the British includes her fight effort to assimilate the .culture of the British and also with the main of avoiding from reoccurring again. This did not only help the colonies to get the opportunity to produce the paper money but at the same time allows them to get easy trading system and this really encourages industrialization within the colonies leading to different types of developmental activities. Paper money also became more popular among the colonists since it was easily portable. In contrast to the paper money, barter trade was more difficult since some goods were not mobile. Paper money is more manageable and can be divided into smaller units for convenience and easy transportation. This made it easy for traders to give take value for their goods and to transact with the correct payments. Barter trade advocates for the exchange of goods with other commodities proved to be difficult since some items were not divisible into smaller units for trade.

According to the researchers which have been about a need and the existence of the paper money was that it was the only way to have a simplified and a more sounding trading system both to the colonies and even to the entire globe. This comes to a better option now that the only trading source was barter trade due to the fact the coinage was not sufficient and was inadequately available for most of the colonies to carry out a proper and a more meaningful trading system. The use of the coins as the main currency in the exchange of goods and services had become unreliable more so to the colonies and also the barter trade system which remains as the main means of trading has really proved to be very unreliable. This is because the barter system was considered to be having more disadvantages as compared to the advantages that it encompasses with the main reason that accountability was not easy at all to be realized and at the same time it was so difficult for all the traders to be satisfied with whatever value the quantity exchanged really worth what the traders were expecting. The introduction of the paper money now means that the traders would carry out their trading activities and operate their businesses using a more straightforward means of transport.

Paper money in several ways to boost the trading system within the colonies and also globally through the provision of the direct means of payment of the goods and services using the paper and at the same time using it to buy or purchase other goods and the provision of the other service using that money. This was really good because it was not easy in any way to be faced double coincidence as in the case of barter trade where you find that two or more different trading partners are having the same goods and this to great depth brings a lot of inconveniences within the trading system. Paper money also became more popular among the colonists since it was easily portable. In contrast to the paper money, barter trade was more difficult since some goods were not mobile. Paper money is more manageable and can be divided into smaller units for convenience and easy transportation. This made it easy for traders to give take value for their goods and to transact with the correct payments. This was of great importance as compared to the barter trade in which goods and services were exchanged with other commodities...