Some idea of economic condition of Pennsylvania during the Panic of 1819 may be obtained from the report of a committee of the State Senate appointed on December 10, 1819, to inquire into "the Extent and Causes of the present General Distress throughout the Commonwealth." The long years of war in Europe and of the war of the United States with Great Britain, although they brought wealth and prosperity to some, also produced inflation and speculation.
Most studies of the economic impact of the War of 1812 focus on early economic growth including manufacturing, shipbuilding, and canal and road improvements, and later issues of economic decline including the failure of the First Bank, decline of-specie supply, and issuance of Treasury Notes. These macroeconomic studies target such things as the inadequacy of the banking system, depreciation, inflation, the depression beginning in 1815, the Panic of 1819, and subsequent recessions of the 1820s.
“Pressure of the times.” “Scarcity of money.” “Scarcity of work.” “Persistence of creditors.” “Family sickness.” “Low wages.” “Unemployment.” “Bought high and had to sell low.” Are these familiar phrases heard in the last couple of years? Yes. But they are also verbatim phrases found in petitions for insolvency to the Cumberland County courts from 1750-1860 by debtors who found themselves arrested on a judgment for debt.
The Panic of 1819 was the first great depression in the U.S. In this bicentennial year, the article will first present background about the event. It will then attempt to answer four questions related to the Panic of 1819 and Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.