In 1789, the First U.S. Congress established the Department of
the Treasury on September 2nd to manage government finances, creating a permanent institution after the Continental Congress‘s
prior efforts to fund the Revolutionary War through the issuance
of paper money.

This new department was part of Alexander Hamilton’s vision for
the new government, which included establishing national credit,
funding the national debt, and formulating economic policy.

Alexander Hamilton (1757 – 1804)

View of the east entrance of the first Treasury
Building in Washington, 1804.