# When FDR Took Americans’ Gold (with Sebastian Edwards)

**URL:** <https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/free-thoughts/when-fdr-took-americans-gold-with-sebastian-edwards>

**By** Trevor Burrus

**Published:** July 13, 2018

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Sebastian Edwards joins us today to discuss why we abandoned the gold standard.

Sebastian Edwards joins us today to discuss why we abandoned the gold standard. Edwards recently published _[American Default: The Untold Story of FDR, the Supreme Court, and the Battle over Gold](https://www.amazon.com/American-Default-Untold-Supreme-Battle-ebook/dp/B07959G7S4)._

On April 5, 1933, FDR ordered Americans to sell all their gold holdings to the government. This was followed by the abandonment of the gold standard and the devaluation of the dollar. American Default is the story of this forgotten chapter in America's history.

### Further Readings

Learn More about [Sebastian Edwards](http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/sebastian.edwards/)

Read the book [_American Default: The Untold Story of FDR, the Supreme Court, and the Battle over Gol_d](https://www.amazon.com/American-Default-Untold-Supreme-Battle-ebook/dp/B07959G7S4)

[The Gold Standard Won’t Be Coming Back - Free Thoughts Podcast](https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/free-thoughts/the-gold-standard-wont-be-coming-back)