Editing Thomas F. Bayard (section)

=== Specie resumption ===
[[File:SpecieCartoon.JPG|thumb|250px|right|A cartoon from the April 9, 1870, issue of ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'' anticipates the [[Specie Payment Resumption Act|resumption of government payments in precious-metal coins]]. "[[Brother Jonathan]]" was a personification of the United States before "[[Uncle Sam]]".]]

From the start of his congressional career, Bayard was an advocate of [[hard money (policy)|hard money]], i.e., a dollar backed by gold.{{sfn|Tansill 1946|pp=26–27}} During the Civil War, Congress had authorized a new form of currency, redeemable not in specie (gold or silver coin) but in 6% government bonds.{{sfn|Dam 1981|p=373}} These [[United States Note]]s, popularly known as "greenbacks," had helped to finance the war when the government's gold supply did not keep pace with the expanding costs of maintaining the armies. When the crisis had passed, many in Congress (including Bayard) wanted to return the nation's currency to a [[gold standard]] as soon as possible.{{sfn|Tansill 1946|pp=26–27}} The process of retiring the greenbacks had already begun when Bayard was elected, but stopped when many Senators and Representatives thought the fiscal contraction too severe, and likely to be harmful to the economy.{{sfn|Tansill 1946|pp=26–27}} In 1869, Congress passed the [[Public Credit Act of 1869]], which required that the government pay its bond holders in gold, not greenbacks. Bayard thought the bill not strong enough, since it did not require removing greenbacks from circulation, and he voted against it.{{sfn|Tansill 1946|p=28}}

In 1873, a business depression (known as the [[Panic of 1873]]), increased the pressure for retaining greenbacks, as some in Congress believed that inflating the currency would ease the economic problems. Grant's Treasury Secretary, [[William Adams Richardson]], reissued $26 million of the redeemed greenbacks, reversing the administration's previous policy of removing them from circulation.{{sfn|Tansill 1946|pp=87–88}} This ignited a four-month debate in the Senate over whether and when the government should return to backing all of its currency with gold—including the remaining greenbacks. The majority, including Bayard, favored resumption, but in wording the resolution that passed the Senate, Republican [[John Sherman]] of Ohio left vague the exact timing; Bayard feared it would be put off indefinitely.{{sfn|Tansill 1946|pp=87–88}} The Sherman bill also proposed to remove greenbacks from circulation by exchanging them for bonds payable in gold; in response, Bayard proposed an amendment limiting the amount of debt the government could incur.{{sfn|House 1940|p=61}} When the amendment was rejected, Bayard voted against the bill (known as the [[Specie Payment Resumption Act]]), believing that it was likely to cause inflation.{{sfn|House 1940|p=61}}