United States, 2 Dollars, 1776

Grade Range: 5-12
Resource Type(s): Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted: 6/10/2009

By the time they broke with England, the thirteen American colonies had been issuing paper currency for nearly a century. Both they and the loose central government they set up under the Articles of Confederation to oversee matters of common concern would continue to do so throughout the War of Independence. The "national" paper went by the name of "Continental Currency." As its name suggests, it was issued by the Continental Congress.