- President Andrew Jackson set about dismantling the Second Bank of the United States in the mid-1830s due to inflation and corruption. Jackson accused the bank and its subsidiaries of printing money without establishing a hard currency, such as silver or gold, to reinforce the worth and value of the cash. The friction between major banking enterprises and the executive branch of the federal government resulted in economic uncertainty and staggered lending.
- The corrupt business practices of major banks combined with a failing cotton market that led to a nationwide economic panic. Cotton was a central U.S. export and the collapse of the cotton industry, in part due to subsequent economic turmoil, resulted in a weakening economy, extended inflation and a rising jobless rate. The panic soon created a total economic depression which destroyed many small businesses, farms and crippled a man's ability to provide for his family.
- The California Gold Rush served as the catalyst for westward expansion and the chief reason for maintaining the Oregon Trail. A small mining crew in the 1840s discovered a handful of tiny gold nuggets in the waters off the California coast. Publicity and propaganda attributed to the event set off a firestorm of activity throughout the United States and inspired people to migrate west to find riches and begin a life anew. Over half a million people traveled across the Oregon Trail via covered wagon, horse and buggy or on foot.
- The Cholera pandemic that swept through the nation during the 1830s and 1840s devastated family finances and any amassed savings. Cholera was a bacterium which often poisoned drinking water. Some families lost two out of three people in their wagons while traveling along the Oregon Trail. Medicines, doctor's visits and burials cost families money and many were forced to throw away valuable belongings for fear the objects had become infected with the Cholera toxin.
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