Classroom Lesson: Hamilton's National Bank

Johnston, Eva

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Classroom Lesson: Hamilton's National Bank

GRADE LEVEL: 8-12

OVERVIEW: In this lesson, students participate in two rounds of a role play to help them understand the role of banks in facilitating economic growth through loans. Round 1 is conducted without a bank. After the first round, students read excerpts from Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton's 1790 report to Congress in which he proposes a national bank because the United States had few banks at the time. Students then conduct Round 2 of the role play with a bank. After the round, students read excerpts from and summaries of the statute creating a national bank, Thomas Jefferson's opposition, and Hamilton's rebuttal.

KEY TOPICS: banks, capital formation, capital resources, collateral, gross domestic product (GDP), loan, risk, risk -reward relationship, savings, usury

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NOTE: This lesson aligns with Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics, Standard 12: Interest Rates (Benchmark 1, Grade 8; Benchmarks 2, 3, and 4, Grade 12) and Standard 15: Economic Growth (Benchmarks 2 and 4, Grade 8)

This lesson aligns with National Standards for Financial Literacy, Standard III: Saving (Benchmarks 1 and 2, Grade 8, and Benchmark 3, Grade 12); Standard IV: Using Credit (Benchmark 1, Grade 4 and Benchmark 1, Grade 8); and Standard V: Financial Investing (Benchmark 6, Grade 8)

This lesson aligns with the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards, Economics: Economic Decision Making (D2.Eco.1.6-8; D2.Eco.1.9-12); Economics:Exchange and Markets (D2.Eco.3.6-8; D2.Eco.4.6-8); Economics: National Economy (D2.Eco.10.6-8}; and History: Change, Continuity, and Context (D2.His.1.9-12 and D2.His.3.9-12)

PowerPoint slides are also available for this lesson. Download them at https://www.stlouisfed.org/education/hamiltons-national-bank

Educational resources on FRASER are provided in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and other regional Federal Reserve Banks. Unless otherwise noted, these resources are free and open for individual and classroom use, reuse, retention, and redistribution, within the terms of our Economic Education Permitted Use policy. For questions about specific use cases, please contact us.