What was the name of the first bank chartered by the United States Congress, in 1781?

The Bank of North America was the first bank chartered by the United States' national legislature, receiving its charter in 1781.

The Confederation Congress approved the charter on May 26, 1781, during the Revolutionary War. Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris proposed the institution, drawing on ideas associated with Alexander Hamilton. The bank opened in Philadelphia on January 7, 1782, and helped the revolutionary government obtain credit and manage wartime finances.

It is often described as the country's first de facto national bank or central bank, although it was not identical to the later Federal Reserve. The bank was initially a public institution, but Pennsylvania later issued it a state charter in 1782 and revoked that charter in 1785 amid opposition to its privileges.

The First Bank of the United States is a frequent mix-up. Congress chartered that separate institution in 1791, a decade later, after the Bank of North America had already pioneered federally backed banking in the new nation.