Editing United States Note (section)

===Demand Notes===
{{main|Demand Note}}
[[File:Demand Legal comparison.jpg|thumb|Comparison of a $5 Demand Note (upper image) and an 1862 issue $5 United States Note (lower image) in which the words "On Demand" and the phrase "Receivable in Payment of All Public Dues" are removed and the Treasury Seal is added]]
During 1861, the first year of the [[American Civil War]], the expenses incurred by the Union Government much exceeded its limited revenues from taxation, and borrowing was the main vehicle for financing the war. The Act of July 17, 1861<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=012/llsl012.db&recNum=290 United States Congress. Act of July, 17 1861 Chapter V. Washington D.C.: 1861]</ref> authorized [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Salmon P. Chase]] to raise money via the issuance of $50,000,000 in [[Treasury Note (19th century)|Treasury Notes]] payable on demand.<ref name="Greenbacks">Mitchell, Wesley Clair, "A History of the Greenbacks With Special Reference To the Economic Consequences of Their Issue 1862–65",  University of Chicago, Chicago, 1903.</ref>  These Demand Notes were paid to creditors directly and used to meet the payroll of soldiers in the field.  While issued within the legal framework of Treasury Note Debt, the Demand Notes were intended to circulate as currency and were of the same size as banknotes and closely resembled them in appearance.<ref>Chittenden, L.E., ''Recollections of President Lincoln and His Administration'', Harper & Brothers, New York, 1891.</ref>  During December 1861, economic conditions deteriorated and a [[Demand Note#Suspension of Specie Payment|suspension of specie payment]] caused the government to cease redeeming the Demand Notes as coins.