In the autumn of 1857, sustained runs on New York banks led to a
panic atmosphere that affected the American economy for the next
two years. In The Panic of 1857 and the Coming of the Civil War,
James L. Huston presents an exhaustive analysis of the political,
social and intellectual repercussions of the Panic and shows how it
exacerbated the conflict between North and South.
The panic of 1857 initiated a general inquiry between free
traders and protectionists into the deficiencies of American
economic practices. A key aspect of this debate was the ultimate
fate of the American worker, an issue that was given added emphasis
by a series of labor demonstrations and strikes. In an attempt to
maintain the material welfare of laborers, northerners advocated a
program of high tariffs, free western lands, and education. But
these proposals elicited the opposition of southerners, who
believed that such policies would not serve the needs of the slaves
system. Indeed, many people of the period saw the struggle between
North and South as an economic one whose outcome would determine
whether laborers would be free and well paid or degraded and
poor.
Politically, the Panic of 1857 resurrected economic issues that
had characterized the Whig-Democratic party system prior to the
1850s. Southerners, observing the collapse of northern banks,
believed that they could continue to govern the nation by
convincing northern propertied interests that sectionalism had to
be ended in order to ensure the continued profitability of
intersectional trade. In short, they hoped for a marriage between
the Yankee capitalist and the southern plantation owner.
However, in northen states, the Panic had made the Whig program
of high tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements popular
with distressed members of the community. The country's old-line
Whigs and nativists were particularly affected by the state of
economic affairs. When Republicans moved to adopt a portion of the
old Whig program, conservatives found the attraction irresistible.
By maintaining their new coalition with conservatives and by
exploiting the weaknesses of the Buchanan administration, the
Republicans managed to capture the presidency in 1860.
No other book examines in such detail the political
ramifications of the Panic of 1857. By explaining how the economic
depression influenced the course of sectional debate, Huston has
made an important and much-needed contribution to Civil War
historiography.
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