Panic of 1837

The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis that struck the United States economy in May 1837, during the presidency of Martin van Buren. Several causes have been blamed for the crisis, but perhaps the most common is excessive land speculation, which followed reckless lending policies from state banks. State banks had more power when then-president Andrew Jackson did everything in his power to cripple the Second Bank of the United States, including switching money from this bank into state banks.