One of the worst depressions in U…

One of the worst depressions in U S. history, sparked by the Panic of 1873 and caused by economic overexpansion, a stock crash, and a decrease in the money supply, marks the period from 1873-79.

By 1877, an estimated one-fifth of the nation's workingmen were completely unemployed, two-fifths worked no more than six or seven months a year, and only one-fifth had full-time jobs.