What was the Panic of 1893?

The Panic of 1893 could also be called a depression.  It
was a time when the US economy underwent a very serious downturn.  The panic, or
depression, lasted for about four years.  This was the first major economic downturn in
the industrialized US.

There are a number of factors that
caused this depression to occur.  Among them were such things
as:

• Excessive speculation by investors which
  pushed prices up in a "bubble."


• Troubles between labor
  unions and companies.


• A lack of foreign trust in American
  debt.

The panic really started when foreign
banks lost faith in American loans and began to call in the loans they had made to
American firms.  This caused a major panic in which many American businesses went
bankrupt and huge numbers of people (around 18% of the work force) became
unemployed.