Emergency Banking Act (1933)

1) Link to the Text of the Act
Read the statute (12 U.S.C. § 95)

2) Why It Was Done
Passed during the Great Depression after a banking panic, the Act gave President Franklin D. Roosevelt emergency powers to stabilize the financial system, reopen banks, and restrict gold transactions.

3) Pre-existing Law or Constitutional Rights
Prior banking laws had no mechanism for nationwide bank closures or emergency authority. The Act temporarily curtailed private property rights in gold to protect the financial system.

Gold Reserve Act (1934)

1) Link to the Text of the Act
Read the statute (31 U.S.C. §§ 5116–5118)

2) Why It Was Done
Passed in the aftermath of the Great Depression and following the Emergency Banking Act of 1933, this Act transferred ownership of all monetary gold to the U.S. Treasury and gave the federal government control over gold reserves. It also authorized the President to devalue the dollar relative to gold.

Bretton Woods Agreements Act (1945)

1) Link to the Text of the Act
Read the statute (22 U.S.C. §§ 286–286mm)

2) Why It Was Done
Enacted to approve U.S. participation in the Bretton Woods Conference agreements of 1944, which created the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The goal was to stabilize exchange rates, promote international trade, and rebuild the global economy after World War II.

3) Pre-existing Law or Constitutional Rights
Before this Act, the U.S. had no formal role in a permanent international monetary system. The Constitution gave Congress authority over money and treaties, but this Act delegated substantial power to the executive branch in international finance.

IMF Second Amendment Implementation Act (1976)

1) Link to the Text of the Act
Read the statute (Pub. L. 94–564)

2) Why It Was Done
This Act ratified U.S. participation in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Second Amendment, which followed the Jamaica Accords of 1976. It formally abandoned the gold standard, authorized floating exchange rates, and eliminated gold’s role in the international monetary system.

3) Pre-existing Law or Constitutional Rights
Prior to this Act, the Bretton Woods system still nominally tied the U.S. dollar to gold for foreign governments, even after President Nixon suspended convertibility in 1971. This law permanently severed that tie, ending the last statutory role for gold in U.S. currency.