More than a century before the Great Depression, the Panic of 1819 disrupted the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Americans. The Panic of 1819: The First Great Depression (University of Missouri Press) follows the origins of the crisis in the resolution to the war of 1812 and rapid agricultural expansion, and also details the nation’s response to the panic that led to distrust of the financial system and the rise of Jacksonian democracy.
