• Panic of 1819

U.S. banks over-extended credit to speculators in public lands, and fuelled the bubble by printing paper money. When the central bank started curtailing loans to regional banks, they covered their exposure by foreclosing on the heavily mortgaged farms and businesses they had financed. But with the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, European agricultural production rebounded, pinching export markets for the U.S. In the subsequent panic there were many bankruptcies, and massive unemployment. Some described it as a general collapse of the American economy. Deep mistrust and resentment of bankers and big business followed. Bank circulation fell by almost half.

• Panic of 1837

President Andrew Jackson rode a wave of hostility toward financiers into the White House. He declared America’s national bank corrupt, and set out to thwart its activities. Private banks responded with rapid expansion, fuelling a real estate bubble. Jackson, who had paid off the national debt, insisted that public lands be paid for in gold or silver coin, causing a currency reserve crisis. Once again, banks foreclosed on mortgages, a crisis of trust triggered a massive business contraction, and in New York, 250 business houses declared bankruptcy in the first three weeks of April. Historians later described circumstances in which even the central government couldn’t pay its debts and “trade stood still, business confidence vanished, and ruin stalked unchecked over the land.” Jackson departed, leaving the problem to incoming President Martin Van Buren.

• Panic of 1857

This has been called the first global financial crisis. A major shipment of gold from California was lost in a hurricane and banks couldn’t cover their loans to finance railway expansion, which had in turn sparked a speculative boom in mining and real estate. Mining and railway profits failed to materialize and farmers began to default on bank-held mortgages, setting off a run on bank deposits. On August, 24, 1857, Ohio Life Insurance and Trust failed and banks across the U.S. followed. The resulting depression lasted until the Civil War. This panic helps explain American enthusiasm for the Gold Rushes to the Fraser River in 1858 and the Cariboo in 1860.

• Panic of 1873

This was the original “Great Depression” until it was superseded by the one that followed the stock market crash of 1929. A number of factors came into play, among them Jay Cooke & Company’s heavy investment in railroads, speculating on agricultural production. Unfortunately, while the areas to which the railways were built were productive, there were no settlers there to farm the land. When farmers didn’t supply the freight on which the railways were counting, profits collapsed along with share value, and the big bank failed. In the subsequent run on New York banks, deposits fell by two-thirds, and they collapsed with such rapidity that the New York Stock Exchange closed for an unprecedented 10 days. These woes were exacerbated by the German Empire’s decision to abandon the silver standard, affecting the American mining sector, and a general depression followed.