Depression of 1893
In 1893 the United States would enter an economic depression that would last approximately five years. Precipitated by a bank crisis and the repeal of the Sheldon Silver Act (which caused the value of silver, on which the currency was backed, to plummet), as well as decreased investment from Europe, the depression affected a wide range of Americans. The Depression of 1893 also had an enormous psychological effect on the average American, who had previously assumed that prosperity and growth would be inevitable.

For further reading, see: Douglas Steeples and David O. Whitten, Democracy in Desperation: The Depression of 1893 (Westchester, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998).

See also: Great Depression; Panic of 1873, Rent, Wages, & the Cost of Living: 1890s.