Maria Thao
Period 5
To what extent did the Panic of 1873 have its effects on the reconstruction period of the United States?
The Panic of 1873 also known as the “Great Depression” until the 1930s, lasted from 1873 to 1879. The Panic became a financial crisis that caused a significantly large depression affecting in not just the United States but also in various countries in Europe.
After the American Civil War, 35,000 miles of new railroad tracks were placed across the United States between the years of 1866 and 1873. The railroad industry had become the nation’s largest employer, excluding agriculture, the industry included large investments and high risks. James Ford Rhodes, a historian who lived during the 19th century said the following,
“Prosperity was written all over the face of things. Manufacturers were busy workmen in demand. Streets and shops were crowded and everywhere new buildings going up. Prices of commodities were in high, demand pretty good. Everybody seemed to be making money.”
In the fall of 1873, the nation was
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Jay Cooke and Co. became largely invested in railroad construction, such as the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific line. The companies were supplied by federal land grants, including over 60 million acres that were signed over to Jay Cooke’s firm. The firm uses the land as a collateral to secure more loans and sell more stock. Jay Cooke’s firm closed their doors in the fall of 1873, declaring bankruptcy and unable to repay its debts. Following the fall of the firm, many banking firms and industries who’ve also invested had mirrored the decline of Jay Cooke and Co. About 24 percent of the United State’s railroads had declared bankruptcy and within two years, around 18,000 businesses had failed. The rate of unemployment had quickly risen to 14 percent by the year
As you may know, Americans faced immense struggles during the Great Depression. According to Document 1, in year 1929, approximately four percent of the population were unemployed. However, after the stock market crash, the percent rose rapidly reaching to approximately
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, into a world of privilege; the only president, in office, who held four terms. President Roosevelt family lived in Hyde Park, NY at the time of his birth (Coker, 2005). Franklin Delano Roosevelt studied law. In 1903 Franklin Delano Roosevelt became editor of The Harvard Crimson. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Anna Eleanor Roosevelt were married in 1905; they were fifth cousins.
Andy Poon AP United States History Mrs. McBride September 6, 2016 Ulysses S Grant was an iconic figure in the Civil War and was well known for his astounding feats throughout the war. However, while he may have been a prodigious general who won the Civil War for the Union, Grant was a substandard president. He won the Election of 1868 by a landslide after the highly unpopular Andrew Johnson’s retirement, and served two terms before retiring absolutely broke. As a president of both the historical Reconstruction Era and the Gilded Age, Grant was in a difficult position.
Railroads became a “stepping stone” for other advances and developments that have had a crucial impact on us, even till this day. The promotion of growth not only individually but as a whole, would have never had been possible without the construction of the railroads. White may see the railroads as a “creative destruction,” but one can see them as a “beautiful
Cornelius Vanderbilt saw the trouble coming. By 1873, the 79-year-old "Commodore," as he was called, was no stranger to risk: calculated bets with steamboat and railroad companies had made him by far the richest man in America. But he was wary of overexpansion by the railroads in the West, skeptical of economic weakness abroad and loose credit at home, and disdainful of the new "gang of stock speculators in Wall Street"—which included some of his own clan. When big banks began to fall on Sept. 18, 1873, he immediately understood what was wrong. "There are a great many worthless railroads started in this country without any means to carry them through," he told a reporter that evening.
During the era of reconstruction there has been a chain of flaws of many different plans. Many of these plans angered either the southern or the Northern. Most of these plans also impacted a dramatic number of people for an example the Freedmen. These plans helped out the freedmen in many different ways. It formed the social structure to this day.
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place during the 1930s. The article by Edwin Gay and pictures compiled by Cary Nelson are both descriptions of how the Great Depression was and the several impacts that it had on the American economy. The range of the great depression is unprecedentedly wide according to Edwin Gay. The great depression was believed to have started from the collapse of the US stock market in 1929. This was shown in a picture as compiled by Cary Nelson
1876 was an important year for America. It was the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and America was moving forward. The united states was creating enough opportunity that all Americans and millions of immigrants could purse their hopes and dreams for happiness, just as Thomas Jefferson predicted 100 years earlier. But the great irony 1876 crushed the American dreams of millions of African-American and immigrants. Granting Hayes in office, he removed the last federal soldiers from the south, guaranteeing that all-white government will rise to power in the south.
America had experienced other depressions or “panics,” but none were like the Great Depression. The Great Depression began on October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday, with the stock market crashing. Most people believe that the cause of the Great Depression was the stock market crashing. Although that is what triggered the Great Depression there were many underlying causes that lead up to the stock market crashing. Some of the underlying causes include under-consumption/over-production, uneven distribution of wealth, loose banking and corporate regulations, tariffs policies, and the stock market.
Just as the railroad created economic growth it also brought a lot of corruption with it. The railroad companies were given government bonds that were funded by the taxpayers and they were also given enormous amounts of land to build on. There was little incentive to function efficiently or responsibly. ‘Stocks were manipulated, as bosses bought struggling eastern rail companies, spread rumors that the railroad line would link to these companies.’ (Coffey, W, Corruption and the Transcontinental Railroad, http://waltercoffey.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/corruption-and-the-transcontinental-railroad/).
With the advent of the railroad, many of these issues disappeared. Railroads had a major impact on advancing the American economy, transforming America into a modern society, and improving an antiquated transportation system. The building of railroads created rapid economic growth in America. Railroad companies employed more than one million workers to build and maintain railroads. At the same time, coal, timber, and steel industries employed thousands of workers to provide the supplies necessary to build railroads (Chapter 12 Industrialization).
Workers and families for the Pullman Palace Car Company in Illinois lived in a small town called Pullman and paid wages to the business in order to live there. The Pullman Company in 1894 cut wages but did not lower the price of living for these workers making them absolutely penniless “George M. Pullman, you know, has cut our wages from 30 to 70 percent. George M. Pullman has caused to be paid in the last year the regular quarterly dividend of 2 percent on his stock and an extra slice of 1 1/2 percent, making 9 1/2 percent on $30,000,000 of capital. George M. Pullman, you know, took three contracts on which he lost less than $5,000.” (U.S. strike commission, 1894) These workers and train car workers around the nation stopped working and started protesting all organized by a man named Eugene Debs.
Panic of 1893 1893-1897 The Panic of 1893 was the worst depression in the nation’s history. The economy was centralized enough that most people were influenced by national markets and almost everyone was vulnerable to the effects of a national economic depression. In April 1893, the U.S. Treasury’s gold reserve dropped below $100 million and set off a financial panic as investors sold off their assets and converted them into gold. Along with the failure of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, the market was increasingly unsettled.
One major industry during this time period was found in the railroad. The of course was also considered the center of national or both financial and political corruption (White, 21). While transcontinental railroads were essential developments for the growth of the United
The Civil War allowed the United States to make the changes necessary to unify the country. In addition, it began one of the most transitional periods in the United States’ history. This period, the Reconstruction, brought about many political, social, and economic changes, which were both beneficial and disagreeable. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, the Panic of 1873, and the formation of the Ku Klux Klan are just a few examples of heavily impacting events for the United States. During the Reconstruction period there were numerous political transformations in the country.