Depression Of 1893 Research Paper

610 Words3 Pages
The economy in the 1890s when there was a depression that hit in 1893/94 The economy in the 1890s was a massive worldwide economic crisis, the depression started in 1893. The depression of 1893 was a serious economic downward in the United States. “It was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures”. The depression of 1893 was known as the worst depression experienced by the United States. Investments during the time of the depression were financed through bond issues and they included high interest payments. “The huge spike in unemployment, combined with the loss of life savings kept in failed banks, meant that a once secure middle class could not meet their mortgage obligations”. A solution to limit the supply of money was the practice in the Gilded Age which it was to tie the dollar to gold. “The 1880s were a period of remarkable economic expansion in the United States, an expansion that eventually became driven by railroad speculation. Railroads were over-built, and many companies continued growth by taking over competitors, endangering their own stability”. Many mines were opened, and their…show more content…
Unemployment among industrial workers exceeded 20 to 25 percent. Farmers were the most that suffered from the depression. “Farmers suffered a series of droughts which left them short of cash to pay their debts, which drove down the value of their land”. Farmers needed low-interest credit to keep going, and because of the gold standard, they could not get it. Nor could they raise prices. Thousands of farmers lost their land. Their solution was silver, which was much more abundant than gold. Then, the Free Silver movement arose, gaining support from farmers. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, while falling short of the Free Silver movement's goals, required the U.S. government to buy millions of ounces of silver for coining

More about Depression Of 1893 Research Paper

Open Document