"If a gold backed currency does not allow for growth, then how did the US economy grow exponentially into the 1970s when we were taken off the gold standard?"

Up to that point we were a net exporting nation so the gold standard worked out for us, especially after WWII when we were one of the few economies that weren't obliterated by war. It didn't take a rocket surgeon to know that moving production to cheaper suppliers overseas would quickly evaporate our gold reserves. Try factoring in our trade deficit into your golden dreams and see them turn into nightmares.