Panic of 1893

The Panic of 1893 was a brief but severe depression brought about by multiple factors, including the collapse of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, passed three years before. Also to blame was the government's squander of federal surpluses on industrial enrichment programs. All of these events marked an underlying shift in the United States, as in the 1890 census, it was determined that for the first time, the majority of Americans did not work on farms.

Unemployment reached into the twenty percent levels. Banks were unable to collect mortagages, and went bankrupt after foreclosing many homes. Congress under President Grover Cleveland repealed the disastrous Sherman Silver Act in October of 1893.

The Panic of 1893 did have a significant effect, as by the close of 1893, more than 15,000 businesses and more than 640 banks were bankrupt.

References

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=2030