Panic of 1837
Subject:
US History [1]
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Panic of 1837 A symptom of the financial sickness of the times. Its basic cause was rampant speculation prompted by a mania of get-rich- quickism. The speculative craze spread to canals, roads, railroads, and slaves. Speculation alone did not cause the crash. Jacksonian finance, including the Bank War and the Specie Circular, gave an additional jolt to an already teetering structure. Failures of wheat crops, ravaged by the Hessian fly, deepened the distress. Grain prices were forced so high that mobs in New York City, three weeks before Van Buren took the oath, stormed warehouses and broke open flour barrels. The panic really began before Jackson left office, but its full fury burst out about Van Buren?s bewildered head.