Ohio idea

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The Ohio idea, also known as the Pendleton Plan, was an idea proposed by poor Midwesterners during the US presidential election of 1868. They wanted to redeem federal war bonds in United States dollars, also known as greenbacks, rather than gold. The idea was first introduced in 1867 in The Cincinnati Enquirer, a newspaper, and was later sponsored in Senate by Democrat George H. Pendleton.^[1] Agrarian Democrats supported this in order to keep more money in circulation and thus keep interest rates lower. Moreover, they hoped to improve the political favourability of the Democratic Party by addressing popular issues.^[2] However, the idea was never implemented; it quickly died with the election of President Ulysses S. Grant and the federal bonds were reimbursed in gold through the Public Credit Act of 1869.^[1]