Believe it or not, while George Washington was desperately fighting the Revolutionary War against England, the British Red Coats were not only better equipped, better clothed, and better fed than Washington’s rag tag starving troops, but as if that weren’t enough, the Brits were counterfeiting the Continental Dollar, and doing it so well, they were almost undetectable.
Why do that, when they seemed to be winning anyway? Because they figured they might win sooner if they could destroy the new American currency, and make it difficult for trade, even among themselves, plus making guns and bullets difficult to buy because the money would be worthless…which it became, very quickly. The Americans were not stupid. The Continental Dollar used a special paper with flakes of mica and blue strands going through it, which is similar to today’s hundred dollar bills, which makes them difficult if not impossible to copy, and easily proven counterfeit. The first counterfeit Continental Dollars which rolled off the British presses in New York City, (which Washington was desperate to re-capture), didn’t look good enough with the wrong paper to make them passable. The special paper had to come from Britain, since the colonies had no sophisticated paper mills to produce the paper.
Fortunately, a couple of British ships were intercepted in the Atlantic, which were carrying not only the special paper but the correct ink needed for the American currency. The paper and ink were captured and used to make the authentic Continental Dollar, but other ships were not intercepted, so the counterfeiters soon had the correct ingredients to make the fake dollars, which they did. The counterfeits were so new, that they occasionally were obviously fake, and many refused to accept them.
The next problem, was how to get the fakes into circulation. The Red Coats used every way their minds could devise to inculcate the fake dollars into circulation. One of them, was to disguise a Red Coat as an American, and have them spend the fake dollars at will. Another way was to have an American be ‘accidently on purpose’ captured by the Red Coats and conveniently have a lot of dollars on him. These captured dollars were spent profusely, and of course blended into the currency stream. The Brits even placed an ad in the New York Gazette, offering to hire people to take fake dollars into rebel stores, and pay for merchandise with fake bills.
Within a short time, the real Continental Dollar became worthless, as there were as many fakes as real ones, and no one wanted to take them. Manufacturers of bullets, uniforms, guns, and even food, refused to take the Continentals as they had become worthless. Finally, even Benjamin Franklin wrote a few years after the war had been won, “Paper money was, in those times, our universal currency, but being the instrument with which we combated our enemies, they resolved to deprive us of its use by depreciating it; and the most effectual means they could contrive was to counterfeit it.”
Fortunately, the resolve and determination of the Americans was so strong that in spite of their currency becoming worthless, we did survive, and even though the war seemed hopeless to win, Washington used his brain to devise tactics and operations to completely fool the enemy. The strongest, best equipped, best trained, best fed, and best armed, army and navy in the world, was defeated, and the America we now have is the result. I have often felt that God desired a nation to be formed based upon freedom of choice, free from oppressive government, and America was the result. We were the only nation on Earth which had freedom from rulers, kings, potentates, governors, and bureaucrats. Look at us now. Did God indeed look at his Earth, and note with dissatisfaction that we needed some help, and saw to it that Donald Trump became our President? He had never been in office of any kind, and is a smartass smart businessman, who for decades had told friends and interviewers that America needed someone to straighten the mess out. He became the one needed.
“To fill our hearts with hatred, instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world, I pray that on this day when, “peace and goodwill” are preached to all mankind, that better thoughts will fill the hearts of our enemies and turn them to peace.” Robert E. Lee, after his victory at Fredericksburg. (The South was right you know). Wouldn’t it be nice if the Democrats would stop hating Trump, who in spite of their continual efforts to remove him from office, is doing exactly what he promised to do, unlike 100% of previous politicians, and making America Great Again? Pelosi, tearing up the speech, was a crude, grievous, political, civil, and behavioral error, which may cost her party victory in November.
Don Stott
– don@coloradogold.com