mar 2, 1837 - Panic of 1837

Description:

This financial panic and economic depression was caused primarily the land speculation craze heavily financed by western wildcat banks. When Pres. Jackson decreed that these western lands could be purchased only with specie circular (gold & silver backed currency) it caused the purchase of land to come to an abrupt halt and land values to crash. These events, along with failure of the wheat crop, an abundance in the cotton market, and failure of 2 prominent banks in England led to foreclosures, bank failures, business failures and unemployment.

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