American Revolution The history of the Department of the Treasury began during the
American Revolution when the
Continental Congress, convening in
Philadelphia, deliberated the crucial question of how it would finance the
American Revolutionary War in which the
Thirteen Colonies ultimately sought
independence from the
Kingdom of Great Britain, then led by
King George III. The Congress had no power to
levy and
collect taxes, nor was there a tangible basis for securing funds from foreign investors or governments. The delegates resolved to issue paper money in the form of
bills of credit, promising
redemption in
coin on faith in the revolutionary cause. On July 29, 1775, the
Second Continental Congress assigned responsibility for the administration of the revolutionary government's finances to joint Continental treasurers
George Clymer and
Michael Hillegas. Despite the infusion of foreign and domestic loans, the
united colonies were unable to establish a well-organized agency for financial administration. Protests against the worthless money swept the colonies, giving rise to the expression "
not worth a Continental".
Late 18th century Since the late 18th century, the office has been
customarily referred to as the singular "Treasury", without any
preceding article, as a remnant of the country's transition from
British to
American English. For example, the department notes its guiding purpose as "Treasury's mission" instead of "the Treasury's mission."
Robert Morris was designated Superintendent of Finance in 1781 and restored stability to the nation's finances. Morris, a wealthy colonial
merchant, was nicknamed "the financier" because of his reputation for procuring funds or goods on a moment's notice. His staff included a
comptroller, a
treasurer, a
register, and
auditors, who managed the country's finances through 1784, when Morris resigned because of ill health. The treasury board, consisting of three commissioners, continued to oversee the finances of the confederation of former colonies until September 1789.
Founding The
First United States Congress convened in
New York City on March 4, 1789, marking the beginning of government under the
U.S. Constitution. On September 2, 1789, Congress created a permanent institution for the management of government finances:Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be a Department of Treasury, in which shall be the following officers, namely: a Secretary of the Treasury, to be deemed head of the department; a Comptroller, an Auditor, a Treasurer, a Register, and an
Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury, which assistant shall be appointed by the said Secretary.
Alexander Hamilton took the oath of office as the first
secretary of the treasury on September 11, 1789. Hamilton had served as
George Washington's
aide-de-camp during the
American Revolutionary War and was influential in the
ratification of the Constitution. Hamilton's
financial and managerial acumen made him a logical choice for addressing the problem of the new nation's heavy
war debt. Hamilton was recommended to Washington by
Robert Morris from
Pennsylvania, who was also a Second Continental Congress delegate. Morris was Washington's first choice for the position, but declined the appointment. His first official act as secretary was to submit a report to Congress in which he laid the foundation for the nation's financial health. Hamilton's portrait appears on the
obverse of the
ten-dollar bill, while the
Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. is depicted on the
reverse. To the surprise of many legislators, he insisted upon
federal assumption and dollar-for-dollar repayment of the country's $75 million debt in order to revitalize the
public credit: "[T]he debt of the United States was the price of liberty. The faith of America has been repeatedly pledged for it, and with solemnities that give peculiar force to the obligation." Hamilton foresaw the development of industry and trade in the United States, suggesting that government revenues be based upon
customs duties.
19th and 20th centuries In 1861, Sophia Holmes became the first Black woman to be employed by the Treasury Department and by the
Federal government of the United States when
Senator Henry Wilson,
James G. Blaine and others advocated for her hiring as a janitor under Secretary of the Treasury
Francis Spinner. She was paid fifteen dollars per month. In 1862, she prevented a major theft from the department of more than $200,000 when she came across a box filled with U.S. currency, including a number of thousand-dollar bills, and reported it to Secretary Spinner. U.S. president
Abraham Lincoln subsequently honored her with a commendation for her actions, and the
federal government rewarded her with an appointment for life as a messenger with its department of Issues. Another early woman hired by the department was
Jennie Douglas in 1862. Douglas, who was also recruited by Spinner, is sometimes attributed to having been the first woman to have held an appointed position in the federal government.
21st century Departmental reorganization at 1500
Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW in
Washington, D.C. The
U.S. Congress transferred several agencies that had previously been under the aegis of the Treasury Department to other departments as a consequence of the
September 11 attacks. Effective January 24, 2003, the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), which had been a bureau of the department since 1972, was extensively reorganized under the provisions of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002. The
law enforcement functions of ATF, including the regulation of legitimate traffic in
firearms and
explosives, were transferred to the
Department of Justice as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE). The regulatory and tax collection functions of ATF related to legitimate traffic in alcohol and tobacco remained with the treasury at its new
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Effective March 1, 2003, the
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the
U.S. Customs Service, and the
U.S. Secret Service were transferred to the newly created
Department of Homeland Security. In the 2015
Center for Effective Government analysis of the 15 federal agencies that receive the most
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests (using 2012 and 2013 data, the most recent years available), Treasury failed to earn a satisfactory overall grade.
2020 data breach In 2020, Treasury
suffered a data breach following a
cyberattack likely conducted by a
nation state adversary, possibly Russia. This was in fact the first detected case of the much wider
2020 United States federal government data breach, which involved at least eight federal departments. ==Responsibilities==