Ohio Idea
OHIO IDEA
OHIO IDEA, the proposal to redeem the Civil War's five-twenty bonds in greenbacks—legal tender that could not be exchanged for gold—rather than in coin (1867–1868). Put forth as an inflationary measure by the Cincinnati Enquirer, the proposal was so popular among farmers and manufacturers (groups that depended on easy credit) that both political parties in the Middle West were forced to endorse it, although neither committed itself outright to inflation. Opponents of the measure tended to be investors who wanted to reduce the Civil War's fiscal fluctuations by adopting a noninflationary "hard money" policy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Destler, Chester M. "Origin and Character of the Pendleton Plan." Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 24, no. 2 (1937): 171–184.
Myers, Margaret G. A Financial History of the United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 1970.
Chester M.Destler/c. w.