The Failure Of The Philadelphia And Reading Railroad

During the years of 1893 to 1898, the United States went through an economic depression that severely damaged the economy. The final days of the Harrison administrations consisted of the financial failure of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in January of 1893, the United States was in deep trouble. After the financial railroad of Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, the National Cordage Co. Railroad failed in May, the Erie Railroad in July, the Northern Pacific in August, the Union Pacific in October and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in December (Watkins, n.d.). There was an average of 24 businesses failing per day in the month of May (Schoonover, LaFeber, n.d.). In addition, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and the â€Å"Billion Dollar Congress† caused the nations gold reserved to decline as the government began to use a bimetallic monetary system.. The nations reserves dropped under $100 million after President Cleveland was sworn in March of 1893. People b egan to panic and this led to a plunge in the stock market and European investors began to pull their funds from the United States frightened by the weakening economy. This led to a four year depression in which 15,000 companies and 600 banks closed with about one billion dollars worth of bonds defaulted (Schoonover, LaFeber, n.d.). Even though manufacturing was growing much more rapidly than agriculture in the 1880s, data shows that farmers had a prosperous decade. The tables below will show the increaseShow MoreRelated Parking Lots, the Story of Urban Redevelopment in Callowhill1877 Words   |  8 PagesAs I drive southbound from Trenton into Philadelphia on I95 South it is impossible to avoid potholes, constant construction and terrible drivers. The frustration seems to mount significantly throughout the journey until off in the distance the jutting of skyscrapers can be seen cutting through the clouds, Philadelphia, it’s so close now. 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