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The '''Panic of 1893''' was a brief but severe [[Recession|depression]] brought about by multiple factors, including the collapse of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, and the [[Sherman Silver Purchase Act]], passed three years before.  Urban and rural areas were  both hit hard, though as the 1890 census showed, for the first time, the majority of Americans did not work on farms.

The '''Panic of 1893''' was a brief but severe [[Recession|depression]] brought about by multiple factors, including the collapse of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, and the [[Sherman Silver Purchase Act]], passed three years before.  Urban and rural areas were  both hit hard, though as the 1890 census showed, for the first time, the majority of Americans did not work on farms.

[[Image:COIN1894.JPG|thumb|left|370px|''Coin's Financial School'' (1894), a famous silverite book; Coin is a boy who outsmarts all the economics professors by showing the wisdom of "bimetallism" (i.e. free silver) and refuting the fallacies about gold]]

[[Image:COIN1894.JPG|thumb|right|370px|''Coin's Financial School'' (1894), a famous silverite book; Coin is a boy who outsmarts all the economics professors by showing the wisdom of "bimetallism" (i.e. free silver) and refuting the fallacies about gold]]

Unemployment reached 20% or higher. Some banks were unable to collect on mortgages, and went bankrupt after foreclosing many homes. Congress under President [[Grover Cleveland]] repealed the disastrous Sherman Silver Act in October of 1893.

Unemployment reached 20% or higher. Some banks were unable to collect on mortgages, 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 Congress under President [[Grover Cleveland]] repealed the disastrous Sherman Silver Act in October of 1893.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. Large-scale strikes were frequent and often bloody.  The Depression formed the backdrop for the intensely contested elections of 1894 and 1896, which both resulted in Republican landslides and the emergence of the [[Fourth party System]].

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. Large-scale strikes were frequent and often bloody.  The Depression formed the backdrop for the intensely contested elections of 1894 and 1896, which both resulted in Republican landslides and the emergence of the [[Fourth party System]].

 

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|+ Estimates of Unemployment during the 1890s<ref>Source: Romer, 1986</ref>

|+ Estimates of Unemployment during the 1890s<ref>Source: Romer, 1986</ref>