Home Search Site About MultiEducator History Shopping For Educators World Timeline Election Central NationbyNation Primary Source Documents 20th Century Almanac Aviation History Navy History Railroad History America's Wars Revolutionary War War of 1812 Mexican American Civil War Spanish American World War I World War II Korean War Vietnam War Desert Storm Enduring Freedom Iraqi Freedom Biographies Presidents First Ladies 20th Century 500 Amistadt Civics History of Israel Other Links About Historycentral Advertise Contact US

Economic Panic Following the collapse of the banking firm of Jay Cooke there was a large scale fall in stock prices. This resulted in a five year depression. The panic of 1873 was a result of over-expansion in the industry and the railroads and a drop in European demand for American farm products. The crash of the stock market in Vienna, Austria, early in 1873, resulted in a depression in Europe. The difficult state of the US insurance industry, in light of the Chicago fire, insured that the collapse of the banking firm of Jay Cooke would result in a stock market panic in the United States. This, combined with the underlying weakness of the economy caused by the overexpansion in the railroad and other industries, resulted in a five-year depression. Three million people were left unemployed.