Panic of 1884

In the late 19th century, the gold reserves of Europe were depleted and, as demand for it rose, more than $150 million in gold was exported from the United States between 1882 and 1884. The New York City national banks halted investments in the rest of the United States and called in outstanding loans. Part of the overextension of credit before 1873 was for railroads, particularly the Northern Pacific railroad, which was financed by Cooke & Co. In addition, the failure of banks in 1873 undermined the confidence people had in them, increasing mistrust. ==Causes==

The failure of several banks set off the panic of 1884. Grant and Ward Around 1880, Ferdinand Ward and Ulysses “Buck” Grant Jr., son of former president Ulysses S. Grant, joined to form Grant and Ward, a brokerage firm. Ward made a series of bad investments but altered the books to make it appear that the firm was still making money. The Marine National Bank had taken a $1.6 million loan from the city. The embezzlement was news around the country and he fled to Canada after the bank was almost out of money. His father, Amos Eno, replaced the money Eno had stolen. ==Result==

The panic was mostly contained to banks in New York City. It is argued that this is evidenced in the way the panic was largely confined to New York. ==See also==