Summarize the history of how the Federal Reserve came to have twelve districts

Answer 1

The prevailing popular opinion of the time was to have a small number of districts, as few as six to eight. However, then Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, called for fifty district banks. A compromise was reached and the Federal Reserve Act stated that "not less than eight nor more than twelve cities" would be designated as Federal Reserve district headquarters. A commission of three persons was set up to draw the district boundaries and the locations of the district banks. The commission determined that there should be twelve districts and they determined the boundaries based upon prevailing trade patterns. Some banks protested this proposal and filed petitions for review of the plan with the Federal Reserve Board. When the board members appeared to be about to vote in favor of reducing the number of districts, one of the supporters of the original twelve banks turned to the attorney general of the U.S., protesting that the board did not have the authority to override the commission's decisions. The attorney general gave that opinion and the board ultimately accepted the attorney general's opinion.