Which 1791 U.S. institution was created as the country's first national bank?

The First Bank of the United States, created in 1791, was the country's first national bank.

Congress chartered the bank for a 20-year term during George Washington's presidency. Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. secretary of the treasury, strongly supported it as part of a plan to stabilize public credit, manage government funds, and help establish a uniform national financial system. The bank was headquartered in Philadelphia.

The institution was partly owned by the federal government and partly by private shareholders. It handled government deposits, made loans, and helped regulate the money supply through its banking activities. Its charter was not renewed when it expired in 1811, after substantial political debate about federal power and banking.

The First Bank is often confused with the Second Bank of the United States, which Congress chartered in 1816. The Bank of North America, founded in 1781, was earlier but was not the same institution as the first federally chartered national bank created under the Constitution.