PET BANKS
\pˈɛt bˈaŋks], \pˈɛt bˈaŋks], \p_ˈɛ_t b_ˈa_ŋ_k_s]\
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The name applied to certain State banks selected by the Treasury Department as places of deposit for Federal funds withdrawn from the Bank of the United States. This practice was in vogue during the period between 1833 and 1836. The banks were chosen, it was said, not because of fitness, but on the principle of the accepted system of granting bank charters, namely, of party fidelity. This gave rise to competition among the Democratic banks and a wholesale granting of charters, which was followed by speculation and inflation of the currency.
By John Franklin Jameson
