In 1791, Jefferson said: "To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we will then be taxed in our meat and our drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy." Even though Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison (later to be the 4th President, 1809-17) opposed the Bill, Washington signed it into law on February 25, 1791, Alexander Hamilton became a very rich man. He and Aaron Burr helped establish the Manhattan Co. in New York City, which developed into a very prosperous banking institution. It would later be controlled by Warburg-Kuhn-Loeb interests, and in 1955 it merged with Rockefeller's Chase Bank to create the Chase Manhattan Bank. When Jefferson (1801-09) became President, he opposed the the Bank of the United States or BUS [*] as being unconstitutional, and when the 20 year charter came up for renewal in 1811, it was denied. Nathan Rothschild, head of the family bank in England, had recognized America's potential, and made loans to a few states, and in fact became the official European banker for the U.S. Government. Because he supported the Bank of the United States [*], he threatened: "Either the application for renewal of the Charter is granted, or the United States will find itself in a most disastrous war"; he then ordered British troops to: "Teach these impudent Americans a lesson. Bring them back to Colonial status." This brought on the War of 1812, the second war with England, which facilitated the rechartering of the Bank of the United States. The war raised the national debt from $45 million to $127 million. [*] the Bank of the United States known as BUS was the name of the first Central Bank in America's History. The main capital's holder was ... Bank of England. Today it is impossible to know who the holders of the actual Federal Reserve Bank are except through an old enquiry from Congress in the seventies - that showed European Bankers were still vastly among the holders as in the former Central Bank during the 19th century.