The Bank of North Dakota: The NPL and the Bank
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
The frustration of farmers at the stranglehold Twin Cities and corporate business had on transportation, finance, and milling led to the rise of the Non-Partisan League. The NPL-controlled legislature passed several bills providing support to farmers, including creation of the only state-owned bank in the country.
A. C. Townley’s Non-Partisan League’s membership rose quickly and soon endorsed candidates for their state ownership platform. After surmounting enduring political hurdles to get the NPL’s legislation passed in 1919, North Dakotans turned on the organization, but the state-owned enterprises the NPL created remained and flourished.
Producer
Kim Stenehjem (Producer); Lee Westad (Editor); R. Cadwell, D. Geck, T. Jensen, L. Westad (Videographers); Bob Dambach (Executive Director).
Source
The Bank of North Dakota [Documentary]. USA: Prairie Public Broadcasting (2005).
Grade Level
4 - 12
Subject Matter
Social Studies
Standards
Identify similarities and differences between past events and current events in North Dakota (e.g., in the lives of people from different cultures past and present)
Use chronological order and sequence to describe the cause-and-effect relationships of historical events and periods in North Dakota (e.g., how the railroads led to settlements in the state)
Identify the contributions of prominent individuals (e.g., Teddy Roosevelt, La Verendrye, Rough Rider Award winners) to North Dakota
Explain how people create and change structures of power (e.g., force, elections, wars, reactions to economic conditions and natural disasters)
Identify principles governing individual and group behavior (e.g., cooperation, collaboration, power, conflict) within social dynamics (e.g., familial, political, religious)
Explain how political parties developed to resolve issues (e.g., payment of debt, establishment of a national bank, strict or loose interpretation of the Constitution, support for England or France) in the early years of the United States
Describe factors (e.g., climate, population, tax laws, natural resources) governing economic decision making in North Dakota and other regions (e.g., Midwest, Southeast)
Analyze the role government plays in an economy (e.g., provision of public goods and services, taxes, protection of property rights, resolution of market failures)
Explain the various purposes of social groups, general implications of group membership, and different ways that groups function (e.g., minority groups, cliques, counterculture, family relations and political groups)
