The Major Cause (s) of the Panic of 1837 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Major Cause (s) of the Panic of 1837 - Essay Example There was a short recovery in 1838 but the recession continued for around seven years. Businesses failed, banks collapsed, prices went down, and many people lost their jobs (Benson, et al. 73). The crisis was brought by the duration of economic expansion which was around 1834 to 1836. The prices of cotton, land, and slaves went up in these years. This boom had a lot of causes, domestically and internationally. Due to the strange factors of international trade at this period, a lot of silver came into the United States from China and Mexico. Tariffs on imports and land sales were producing considerable federal revenues. Through profitable cotton exports and state-backed bonds marketing in British money markets, US got substantial capital investment from Britain. These bonds facilitated transportation projects in US. The British loans were accessible through Anglo-American banking houses, helped in the United States ‘expansion westward, industrial expansion, infrastructure development, and economic development (Tindall,et al.67). 1n 1836, it was discovered that monetary reserves in England banks had reduced sharply recently possibly due to insufficient wheat harvests which compelled them import a lot of its food. Consequently, they decided to gradually increase interest rates to 5 from 3 percent. This was done so as to attract specie given the fact that money always goes to where it generates greatest returns. The 1830s open economy, was characterized by free trade and trade barriers that were weak, hegemonic power monetary policies (Great Britain), were transmitted to the global economic system, including U.S. Major Banks in America were forced to increase interest rates as a result of Bank of England doing the same(Skrabec, Quentin R.  193). Interest rates were raised by New York banks and lending was scaled back, the effects were harmful. Given the