Montana Quotes
Gold and Silver
Montana, Motto
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
There has always been a fear of inflation and currency debasement by governments. Since ancient times, rulers issued coins and when they were made of cheap metals like copper or iron, the ruler could mint as much as he wanted and when he did so the value went down. By using only precious metals, gold and silver, for coins, there would be a natural restraint on government. Garfield was one of those who believed that we should always have money of gold and silver. The United States would use that principle for the next century even backing its paper money with gold and silver. In the Nixon administration the United States abandoned the gold standard. Today, it is the ability of a country to produce things that maintains value of paper money which has been supplanted in many cases by electronic money.
The discovery started a white frenzy to prospect the Black Hills. The trouble was that the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie had guaranteed the Black Hills to the Lakota Sioux. The Army tried to keep the white gold seekers out, but it was too difficult and there was not great public support for honoring the treaty. So the army decided to buy the Black Hills from the Indians and open it to legal prospecting. But the Sioux refused to sell not wanting to trade their sacred land for money and having no interest in gold. So the whites broke the treaty and took the gold anyway. This led to the hostilities and the greatest Indian victory wiping out Custer and his men at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Economists they world over have differed as to how critical it was to have a money supply that is based on a gold standard or other precious metal. United States history has had a dispute over whether the money should be backed by gold or silver. Finally, under the Richard M. Nixon administration, the United States went off the gold standard and American money ever since is only backed by the ‘full faith and credit’ of the United States. Some politicians like Paul believe this is a poor policy since it allows governments to control their own money supply irrespective of their gold or silver holdings. Paul goes further than most and sees freedom itself dependent on a precious metal standard. Most politicians disagree.
This is an excellent historical example of how damaging it can be for a country if its leaders do not understand the technicalities of economics and currency manipulation.
Montana (/mɒnˈtænə/ (listen)) is a state in the Mountain West region of the United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west; North Dakota and South Dakota to the east; Wyoming to the south; and by the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan to the north. It is the fourth-largest state by area, the eighth-least populous state, and the third-least densely populated state. The western half of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges, while the eastern half is characterized by western prairie terrain and badlands, with more (albeit smaller) mountain ranges found throughout the state. In all, 77 named ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains.
