Panic Of 1819 Essay

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The Panic of 1819, preceded by land speculation, the expansion of state and private banks, easy credit, inflation, and an increase in agricultural exports, was triggered by the tightening of credit, the collapse of the export market, and increased imports. Mortgages had foreclosed and agricultural prices fell by almost one half. Investments collapsed and price in land dropped. The drop lead to land speculation and the expansion of banks and the Second Bank of the United States. Export of agricultural goods and Import of manufactured goods increased. Their was widespread foreclosures and bank failures. All of these events ultimately lead to The Panic of 1819. Availability of land from The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 contributed to the overexpansion of land speculation and caused inflation of land values. This purchase doubled the U.S. territory with an additional 828,000 square miles. The cost per acre was approximately 40 cents. This whole area later became 15 states. These states were Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Louisiana. As a White 2 result of this purchase, the U.S. population was able to expand and increase. The Federalist favored the sale of large land parcels to wealthy speculators instead of small parcel sales to farmers and contributed to the inflation of land values. Federalists were in control so they could determine anything that they wanted as far as the land goes. Thomas Jefferson was aloud to spend 10 million dollars on the Louisiana Purchase. However, he spent 15 million dollars putting the US in a 5 million dollar debt. “In a government which is founded by the people, who possess exclusively th... ... middle of paper ... .... farmers were unable to make loan payments to banks. Banks then foreclosed on properties and were unable to sell. Land prices decreased, farmers went bankrupt, banks failed. The Napoleonic War fueled America’s agriculture growth and expansion; however, the end of the wars contributed to The Panic of 1819. Increased inexpensive imports led to business failures, bank closures, and unemployment in cities. Britain ended The War of 1812 with America and trade increases. Britain’s industrial capacity exceeded Americas’.5 Britain then exported its surplus of manufactured goods to America. U.S. factories could not compete with Europe’s low labor costs and low price of goods. American imports rose from $12.9 million in 1814 to $151 million in 1816. Businesses were forced to close. Inexpensive imported goods force U.S. manufacturers to shut down and lead to unemployment.

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