What are Continentals?
Continentals were the colonial paper currency minted by the Continental Congress in 1775 to fund the American Revolutionary War against the British Crown. Lacking backing from any physical assets, their value rapidly declined. By 1779, the Continental Congress ceased issuing Continentals, and by 1785, they had become so worthless that people stopped accepting them as payment for trade.
Continentals Explained
The American Revolutionaries faced a financial hurdle: funding the fight against the British. To address this, the Continental Congress, formed by the newly independent colonies, issued paper money called continentals between 1775 and 1779. These bills, featuring images of Revolutionary soldiers, marked the colonies' first significant attempt at a unified currency.
However, continentals weren’t backed up by any physical assets like gold or silver. Instead, their value relied on the shaky promise of future tax collection by Congress, which was far from guaranteed during wartime. With this inherent weakness, minting large amounts of continentals currency troubled the congress, and soon after, the floodgates of printing opened in 1775 with $2 million issued, but the total sum eventually ballooned to a staggering $200 million. This overproduction rapidly eroded the value of continentals, leading to the now-famous term "not worth a continental."
Further complicating matters, the British took an adversary step – printing counterfeit continentals in large quantities. This deliberate act aimed to cripple the American economy and exacerbate the inflation already plaguing the continental currency.
By the end of the five-year period, continentals had become practically worthless. The war left the colonies burdened with significant debt, a harsh reminder of the challenges faced in financing a revolution.