• Greenback is a slang term for US dollars.

  • The first greenbacks were printed to finance the civil war and were called so because their reverse side was printed in green.
  • Since they were not fully backed by gold, the dollars depreciated and caused inflation in the northern economy.
  • The first greenbacks were called demand notes and were used to pay salaries and government expenses in 1861-1862.
  • They were later superseded by the Legal Tender Act of 1862, which authorized the use of paper notes, which eventually became official currency.