Money: Speech of Hon. John P. Jones, of Nevada, on the Free Coinage of Silver

Jones, John P. (John Percival), 1829-1912Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.2
Word count
417K words
Chapters
42

Tags

English Originals Finance and EconomicsPolitics Political AllegorySilver DebateFinancial Hot TopicsMonetary SystemPolitical SpeechesPolicy AnalysisInaugural AddressesModern America

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Money: Speech of Hon. John P. Jones, of Nevada, on the Free Coinage of Silver;Author: Jones, John P. (John Percival), 1829-1912,Language: English, Class: HG: Social sciences: Finance, Release Date: Feb 28, 2012

Editor's review

This is a parliamentary speech by John P. Jones, U.S. Senator from Nevada, on the free coinage of silver, a primary source from the late nineteenth-century American currency debate. Its value lies in fully presenting the argumentative logic and rhetoric of the silver faction: from industry interests and money supply to regional economies, the speech tightly binds political demands to local grievances, allowing readers to understand the configuration of interests behind the gold-silver controversy rather than merely remembering its conclusions. The text is short and carries a clear oral-debate rhythm, making it suitable as primary material for teaching monetary and political history. It should be read in the context of the free silver movement and party competition, with attention to how the speaker's state affiliation shapes his argumentative stance. It offers a sharply defined slice of partisanship and should not be used as a neutral overview.

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Reading tips

  1. look up the background of the free silver movement before turning to the speech itself
  2. mark the types of evidence while reading, distinguishing industry demands from monetary arguments
  3. read alongside contemporary documents opposing free silver and compare the arguments of both sides

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

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FAQ

What is the core argument of this speech? The core argument is support for the free coinage of silver, meaning allowing silver to be freely minted into money at the legally defined ratio. The speaker argues for its necessity from the economic interests of silver-producing regions such as Nevada, together with money supply and local development, reflecting the basic position of the silver faction at the time.
Is it a complete book or a single document? It is a single parliamentary speech, not a systematic treatise. Its length is limited, and its content concentrates on arguments and claims regarding the currency question; it is suitable as primary material for studying the issue rather than as a general history.
Can readers without knowledge of American history understand it? They can understand the literal content but will find it difficult to grasp the weight of the argument. Readers are advised to first learn about the late nineteenth-century American party landscape, the political role of western silver-producing states, and the gold standard controversy, so that the speaker's choice of stance and rhetorical strategy become meaningful.

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About the author

Jones, John P. (John Percival), 1829-1912 Author · American · 1829–1912

John Percival Jones (1829–1912) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Nevada. In public life he advocated the free coinage of silver, a position closely tied to the late nineteenth-century American debate over the monetary system. The library holds his work Money: Speech of Hon. John P. Jones, of Nevada, on the Free Coinage of Silver, a speech delivered in his capacity as Senator from Nevada that sets out his case for free silver coinage. Public information on the details of his life is limited; his writing consists mainly of political speeches, direct and argumentative in style, centered on monetary policy and serving the political discussion of his time. The work is a direct source for understanding his views on money and Nevada's silver position, and it reflects the tension between western mining interests and federal monetary policy in the United States of that era.