Which bank did Congress charter in 1791 as the first national bank of the United States?

Congress chartered the First Bank of the United States in 1791 as the nation's first federally authorized national bank.

President George Washington signed the bank bill on February 25, 1791, after Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton argued that a national bank would strengthen public credit and help manage federal finances. The bank received a twenty-year charter and was headquartered in Philadelphia.

The institution was a public-private partnership rather than a modern central bank. It held government funds, supported federal borrowing, and operated branches in several cities, but it did not set monetary policy or regulate the banking system as the Federal Reserve does today.

The bank became part of an early constitutional debate. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison questioned whether the Constitution authorized Congress to create it, while Hamilton defended the power under the Necessary and Proper Clause. Congress allowed its charter to expire in 1811.