The two Gilded Age panics, or depressions, occurred in 1873 and 1893. Both of these panics were due to a severe economic collapse, and each spanned multiple years. This panic created high unemployment rates, sometimes exceeding ten percent, and bankrupted banks. The Panic of 1873 was caused by speculative investments similar to the Panic of 1893. Both events caused a political as well as an economic scene. The American people have had a great response to both of these problems and have sometimes even been part of the problem. The government was the problem solver in both of these moments of panic, as the American people looked to them for the solution. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Panic of 1873 was not just an American depression, but a depression on a global scale. It was caused by the new industrial capitalism brought by industrialization, post-civil war inflation, speculative investment, and economic depression in Europe. Many factors have led to the decline in bank reserves. The Coinage Act of 1873 also played an important role in starting this panic. Immediately after Congress passed the law, silver prices plummeted, causing investor fatigue in long-term investments. The main event in America that triggered the Panic of 1873 was the failure of Jay Cooke and Company, which was the country's pioneering investment bank. The company was largely supported by the railroads, particularly the Northern Pacific Railroad. It also handled government bonds, also known as “greenbacks,” and was probably the largest bank known to do so in the United States. They sold a lot of government bonds to the people, which when the bank's reserves started to decline made bond holders fear they might lose their money. This in turn scared others and set off a chain reaction of people withdrawing their money from banks, effectively driving them into bankruptcy. At this point the factories even closed their doors, leaving thousands of people without work. As you might imagine, people weren't too happy about this, and responded to the Panic of 1873 with a railroad strike, as well as blaming President Grant and Congress for mismanaging the economy. The railroad strike stopped all trains in 1877. President Hayes was in office at the time and used troops to try to stop the strike. The damage by this time had already been done to the economy, and it was not until 1879 that the economy recovered. However, a lasting disgust with capitalism still persisted due to the panic. The Panic of 1893 was also a depression created by multiple events that weakened the economy. The primary event that set this panic in motion was the collapse of two railroad companies, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroads. Furthermore, at that time, a depression was underway in Europe, which caused European investors to cash out their American investments. This also created panic due to the loss of American gold. Eventually the stock market began to crash and eventually hit an all-time low. More railroads began to file for bankruptcy, and unemployment rose by the millions, an increase of about 20 percent. a historic low. It's pretty easy to see how someone living right now might have been panicking about their finances. The public began to blame the government for the Depression, particularly President Cleveland, a Democrat. This fault has.