Panic of 1873

The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that began in 1873, triggered a prolonged depression in the United States, and spread across Europe.

Jay Cooke & Company: A prominent American investment bank that failed in September 1873 after financing Northern Pacific Railway construction. Its collapse helped ignite the crisis by exposing losses tied to railroad finance.
Long Depression: A prolonged period of deflation and weak economic growth beginning in the 1870s, especially in Europe and North America. The Panic initiated the American downturn commonly associated with this longer era.
Ulysses S. Grant: The eighteenth president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. His administration faced pressure to address unemployment and monetary contraction during the crisis.
Great Railroad Strike of 1877: A nationwide labor uprising in the United States sparked by railroad wage cuts in 1877. Wage reductions during the prolonged depression helped provoke this major strike.
Northern Pacific Railway: A transcontinental railroad whose construction was financed by Jay Cooke & Company. Its costly expansion left Cooke’s firm vulnerable when new financing dried up.
American Civil War: A war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865 between the Union and the Confederacy. Wartime borrowing and postwar reconstruction shaped the monetary and investment conditions preceding the panic.
Henry Clews: An American financier and writer whose firm survived the Panic of 1873. His accounts describe Wall Street conditions and financial failures during the panic.
United States presidential election of 1876: A disputed American presidential election won by Republican Rutherford B. Hayes over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. Economic distress and currency policy formed part of the political climate surrounding the election.
Railway mania: A speculative boom in railway construction and securities that repeatedly produced overinvestment and financial instability. The crisis followed years of railway expansion financed beyond sustainable demand.
Greenback (United States note): A United States paper currency issued during the Civil War that was not initially redeemable in gold. The debate over its value and redemption shaped policy responses to the depression.

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