Chapter7wikimaggio



Panic of 1837 Jackson caused the Treasury Department to issue an order that made only gold and silver, called specie, acceptable payment for public land. The order went into effect on August 15, 1836, and sent people rushing to banks to trade paper currency for gold and silver. In turn, many banks, which had limited specie, suspended the redemption of bank notes. By May 1937, New York banks stopped accepting all paper currency. Other banks soon did the same. In the panic of 1837, bank closings and the collapse of the credit system cost many people their savings, bankrupted hundreds of businesses, and put more than a third of the population out of work.

"Panic of 1837." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 4 Sept. 2015. .

Danzer, Gerald A. The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Print.