For a while, it seemed impossible to lose money on real estate. But then the bubble burst. The financial sector was paralyzed and the economy contracted. State and federal governments struggled to pay their domestic and foreign creditors. Washington was incapable of decisive action. The country seethed with political and social unrest. In America's First Great Depression, Alasdair Roberts describes how the United States dealt with the economic and political crisis that followed the Panic of 1837. As Roberts shows, the two decades that preceded the Panic had marked a democratic surge in the United States. However, the nation's commitment to democracy was tested severely during this crisis. Foreign lenders questioned whether American politicians could make the unpopular decisions needed on spending and taxing. State and local officials struggled to put down riots and rebellion. A few wondered whether this was the end of America's democratic experiment. Roberts explains how the country's woes were complicated by its dependence on foreign trade and investment, particularly with Britain. Aware of the contemporary relevance of this story, Roberts examines how the country responded to the political and cultural aftershocks of 1837, transforming its political institutions to strike a new balance between liberty and social order, and uneasily coming to terms with its place in the global economy.
"Roberts examines the financial, political, and social upheavals that occurred in the United States in the decade following the Panic of 1837, which he calls the First Great Depression... Parallels to the country's current economic recession are clear throughout the text, and Roberts makes explicit comparisons in his conclusion. This timely book will be of great use not just to students of economi
Library Journal
"The parallels between pre-industrial America's 1837 financial crisis and that of our own time are particularly strong. The beauty of Roberts's book is that the reader can see the entire arc of the crisis, from beginning to end, in a historical context... Roberts nicely combines narrative history with analysis. His book is accessible to both the expert and the novice in economic history. Highly re
Daniel Littman, Forefront
"By recasting the Panic of 1837 as the start of the 'First Great Depression,' this book offers a clear attempt at creating a 'usable past' that can help modern citizens understand how our current unsettling economic landscape is not the first one Americans have been forced to navigate."
Sean Patrick Adams, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
