"how, when, and why our monetary system was converted from cash to credit (debt)? "
very good point; I was hoping someone would hop onto this topic with additional details.
Well, it would take some time as it is pretty complex and goes back beyond FDR, and even beyond Wilson. Allow me to preface what will be a brief explanation and conclusion with an introduction first. Please feel free to jump in and enlarge upon what is said, as I'm very limited in my library here, having passed most of my stuff on to others through the years. Yes, help me flesh this out.
My take on this would not make much sense to the casual reader without them first knowing the difference between property ownership paid in full by labor already performed and property use paid for by labor un-performed -- a promise to pay.
Labor already performed is evidenced by the posession and representation of a solid medium of exchange which has intrinsic value because someone already labored to produce it. We're talking minted and above-ground silver and gold, of course -- portable wealth.
If I may simplify, way back in history the world agreed to an international medium of exchange because bushels of cabbages and corn were just too heavy to tote around to barter with. I know you know this, and probably everything else I'm going to say, but you know, there are a lot of people out there who don't understand that basic principle. And many more who don't want to understand it for obvious reasons.
The idea was that when you traded your coins for something of value, the item was paid for in full because the coins were paid for in full as well, conveying value for equal value. Neither party to the transaction required further payment, other than the occasional agreed-upon i.o.u.'s to finish paying [digging up more potatoes] at a later date while using the item traded for.
And the idea of gold and silver as a medium of exhange was a basis for not only securing wealth, but insuring individual freedom -- the basis upon which we define and underpin the 'pursuit of happiness,' as chiseled into our Charter, right next to 'life' and 'liberty'.
(to be continued...)