Historically in the United States, a national bank refers to federally chartered financial institutions established under specific acts of Congress, such as the First and Second Banks of the United States in the early nineteenth century, or modern commercial banks operating under a federal charter issued and regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. In the early American era, the First Bank of the United States, chartered in 1791, and the Second Bank, chartered in 1816, served as central repositories for federal funds, regulated state-chartered banks by handling their note redemptions, and provided a stable national currency to support the young country's expanding commercial economy. These institutions sparked intense political debate between figures like Alexander Hamilton, who championed federal financial oversight and national economic integration, and opponents like Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, who feared centralized financial power and favored states' rights. Later, the National Bank Act of 1863 established the modern system of nationally chartered commercial banks, creating a uniform currency backed by U.S. government bonds and helping stabilize the banking system during the Civil War and beyond.