“State and Federal Governments owed about 77.1 million dollars to creditors” (TreasuryDirect). This economic black hole was the real reason for the bleak outlook on the future of America. America had this crushing debt, yet there was no way to pay it. The States all had worthless money that they minted themselves. Gold and other precious metals were in short supply. These factors made it impossible to pay off any debt. It also meant America would not be able to gain any new financing to service the debt. This caused widespread inflation. America was on the brink of imploding on itself. Something had to be