ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos

U.S. History 1877-Present 3: Bailing out the Banks 1197 Views


Share It!


Description:

J.P. Morgan was like a money superhero. Money...man? The Spendinator? Morganius Terrificu—okay we'll stop.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

This one's for all those out there who want to be respected and [Man speaking on radio]

00:06

worshipped as financial geniuses the trick is to stop and before making any

00:11

financial decisions ask ourselves well what would JP Morgan do that's exactly

00:16

what the federal government did in the panic of 1907 the feds had 35 million [Man emptying money on roof]

00:20

bucks to pour back into the failing banks to stop the panic but the Treasury

00:25

secretary wasn't sure which banks to help out so JP got on the case stat we [J. P Morgan appears with magnifying glass]

00:30

like to thank secretary summons Morgan with a big searchlight in the sky you

00:34

know think like Batman alright well though history may never know for sure

00:38

how the JP summoning process went down we do know what the financial Avenger

00:42

did get panic under control well first Morgan took a look at the books of one [Morgan picks up Trust Company of America book]

00:47

bank the Trust Company of America and pinpointed it as the one to save then he

00:52

oversaw the Treasury's investments in the TCA and brought the bank back from

00:56

the brink of failure after that JP helped the Treasury secretary invest 25

01:00

million dollars in other New York banks well at this point we're pretty sure the

01:04

Treasury Secretary was going home and crying in his closet at night after [Treasury secretary crying with dolls]

01:08

whipping the treasury into shape Morgan got to work on other millionaires for

01:12

example he convinced john d rockefeller to plunk ten million dollars into the

01:15

Stillman's National City Bank ten million bucks

01:18

no biggie all this started too late to stop the stock market crash though but [Clock strikes on stop market crash]

01:23

once it was rolling again on October 24th Morgan refused to let the New York

01:27

Stock Exchange closed because he believed it would just make people even [J. P Morgan scribbling out closed sign]

01:31

more panicky to stop the closure he called bank presidents to his office and

01:35

told them they had to pony up 25 million dollars in ten minutes to save the stock

01:40

exchange yep 10 minutes Morgan must have really had those [Batman holding man captive]

01:43

presidents by the throat because they actually did it then when another panic

01:48

bubbled up the next day he threatened another 10 million dollars out of the

01:51

same dudes Morgan kept up with this kind of stuff for days well JP had more

01:56

meetings with bankers in his personal library than a desperate speed dater it

02:00

deals in wheeled wheels and flexes muscles to get more money into failing [Morgan watching American Gladiator on TV]

02:04

companies and banks if you dad any charm he would have used that but well the

02:08

money in the muscle and eventually Morgan and his banker [Morgan and bankers celebrate]

02:11

buddies did end up saving the economy once things were back to normal Morgan

02:16

was thanked for his efforts with a federal investigation into where he and

02:19

the other bankers got so much money in power to which Morgan said that's the

02:24

last time I'll ever help you America or something like that but they do with [Morgan throws table upside down]

02:28

more expertise

Up Next

Why Does the Constitution Still Work for Us?
5723 Views

Ever heard of a "living document"? They eat and breathe just like the rest of us! They even walk around on their own two legs. Okay, fine—maybe t...

Related Videos

The Puritans and the Division of Church and State
1280 Views

If the Puritans had gotten their way, religion would play a much larger role in lawmaking these days. Want to know more? Watch the video for all th...

Shays' Rebellion
6475 Views

What happened between the creation of the Articles of Confederation and the ratification of the current U.S. Constitution? This video analyzes the...

There's More Than One Way to Crack a Modernist Egg
539 Views

The Modernists thought the world had a lot of problems, and they were intent on fixing them—or at least talking about fixing them. Unfortunately,...

Federalism
2532 Views

This video explains Federalism and the quest for a fair balance between state and national power. It covers the progression and compromises of Fede...