![1982 photograph of Monticello entry hall with facing busts of Jefferson and Hamilton](/-/media/images/before_the_fed_1_720x450.jpg)
The United States made several attempts to regulate banks and manage the money supply at a national level before the creation of the Federal Reserve System.
![The old clubhouse, Jekyll Island, Georgia.](/-/media/images/jekyll_island_720x450.jpg)
Meeting at Jekyll Island
The 1910 gathering that laid the Fed’s foundations
![Crowd on Wall Street during the Panic of 1907.](/-/media/images/panic_1907_1_720x450.jpg)
Panic of 1907
The story of the crash that inspired monetary reform
![Drawing titled 'The recent panic - scene in the New York Stock Exchange on the morning of Friday, May 5th'](/-/media/images/panics_gilded_age_1_720x450.jpg)
Banking Panics of the Gilded Age
The late 19th century was beset by panics
![U.S. "greenback" bill from the Civil War](/-/media/images/national-bank-acts_720x450.jpg)
National Bank Acts
The National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 marked an important moment in the development of the U.S. banking system.
![This 1840s lithograph titled 'Custom House, late U.S. Bank" shows the building that housed the Second Bank. ](/-/media/images/second_bank_1_720x450.jpg)
Second Bank of the U.S.
The nation made its second attempt at creating a central bank in 1816
![This 1830s painting titled 'Girard's Bank, late the Bank of the United States, in Third Street, Philadelphia' shows the building that housed the First Bank.](/-/media/images/first_bank_1_720x450.jpg)
First Bank of the U.S.
Hamilton's grand experiment in central banking began in 1791