Founded in 1874, The Greenback Party Advocated The Use of Paper Money They were also known as the Independent Party, the National Party, and the Greenback-Labor Party. They started in 1874 and were defunct by 1884. Their name was in reference to the use of paper money ("greenbacks") that had been issued during the American Civil War and afterward. They were against shifting from paper money back to a specie-based monetary system. They felt that private banks and corporations would then reacquire the power to control costs and labor. They felt that government control of the monetary system would allow it to keep more currency in circulation because that method had worked during the Civil War.