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Sec[Section] 1 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That from and after the first day [?] if any person or persons, or any [?] other corporation shall pass or [attempt to pass?] or alter any bill, note check or order [?] banking or other corporation of a [less denomination?] than five dollars; or wherever [?] five dollars shall be due at the [time of such?] passing or attempting to pass or alter the [same?] with an intent that the same shall [be calculated?] as money, or to ^be^ used as money [or currency?], such person or persons or corporation so offending, shall forfeit and pay for any
such offence the sum of ten dollars.2
Sec 2 Said sum of ten dollars [?] and recovered by any person [?] or their own name or names by any Justice of the Peace of the county where such
offence was committed, or in the Circuit Court of such county, in the same manner
that the [?] like magnitude are sued for and recovered by any person or persons whatever^:^ Provided the provisions of this act shall not extend to the [?] or attempting to pass, or altering any [?] issued bill, note, check or order of any [?] bank in this State.
Sec 3 That if any person or persons [shall be?] guilty of the offence mentioned in the first section of this act, such person or
persons shall be[?] to indictment for such offence, and the [?] conviction thereof, shall assess[?] upon [?] person or persons so convicted, not exceeding [?] dollars
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No 7
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H. R.
A Bill for an act to prevent the Circulation of bank notes of a less denomination than five dollars
A Bill for an act to prevent the Circulation of bank notes of a less denomination than five dollars
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[02]/[05]/[1839]
[02]/[05]/[1839]
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[02]/[05]/[1839]
[02]/[05]/[1839]
Com Jud[Committee Judiciary]
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[01]/[19]/[1839]
[01]/[19]/[1839]
Engrossed
1John J. Hardin introduced HB 71 in the House of Representatives on December 22, 1838. On January 3, 1839, the House referred the bill to the Committee
on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary reported back the bill on January
17 with an amendment, in which the House concurred. On January 21, the House passed
the bill as amended by a vote of 63 yeas to 20 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting nay. On February 5, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary
reported back the bill on February 8 with an amendment, and the Senate tabled the
bill and proposed amendment.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State
of Illinois, at Their First Session (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1838), 135, 160, 222, 239, 253-54; Journal of the Senate of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at
Their First Session (Vandalia, IL; William Walters, 1838), 202, 281, 297.
2At this time, other states were passing similar laws to limit bank notes of small
denominations, Congress had enacted a law prohibiting such notes on public accounts,
and President Andrew Jackson noted this trend in his Eighth Annual Message to Congress
as evidence of anti-banking sentiments in America.
Sangamo Journal, 7 January 1837, 4:4; “An Act Making Appropriations for the Payment of the Revolutionary
and Other Pensioners of the United States, for the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred
and Thirty-six,” 14 April 1836, Statutes at Large of the United States, 5:9; Andrew Jackson, Eighth Annual Message to Congress, 6 December 1836, U.S. Senate Journal, 24th Cong., 2nd sess., 6 December 1836, 26: 17.
3The Senate presumably tabled this House bill in favor of their own bill, which had become law on December 3, 1838.
Handwritten Document, 2 page(s), Folder 57, HB 71, GA Session 11-1, Illinois State Archives [Springfield, IL] ,