JPMorgan Chase Discloses Ties to Slavery Prior to U.S. Civil War
Jan 24th, 2005 • Posted in: NewsNEW YORK
JPMorgan Chase & Co. last week apologized for the actions of two of its predecessor banks, which accepted 13,000 slaves as collateral between the 1830s and the Civil War.
The firm disclosed the link after an internal investigation required by the city of Chicago, which in 2003 ordered firms doing business with the city to probe their past dealings for any ties to slavery.
JPMorgan found that the two firms, Canal Bank and Citizens Bank, accepted roughly 13,000 slaves as collateral for loans and eventually took ownership of 1,250 of them when plantation owners defaulted, the company said in a press release.
Canal and Citizens, both based in Louisiana, failed during the Great Depression, when they were partly absorbed by a federally chartered bank. That bank eventually became Bank One Corp., which was bought last year by JPMorgan, reported the Associated Press.
“We all know slavery existed in our country, but it is quite different to see how our history and the institution of slavery were intertwined,” JPMorgan chief executive William Harrison and chief operating officer James Dimon wrote in a letter to staff. “Slavery was tragically ingrained in American society, but that is no excuse.”
The company said it will establish a $5 million scholarship program to pay tuition for African-Americans in Louisiana seeking in-state college education.
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