I. Causes A. The government sold millions of acres of land in the West The Panic of 1837

B. Speculators bought most of the land, to sell at higher prices to others for a profit C. To pay for the land in the first place, speculators borrowed money from banks

D. In order to loan money to the speculators, banks printed more paper money E. The more money that is printed, the less value it has

II. The Panic Begins A. To stop the land speculation, in 1836 Jackson passed a law saying that anyone buying public land had to pay with gold or silver

B. The speculators needed to cash their paper money in for gold and silver C. When the speculators went to the bank, the banks didn’t have enough gold and silver to give everyone their gold and silver

D. This caused a bank run

III. Results A. The bank runs turned into a panic B. Banks failed and went out of business

C. The Panic was made worse because cotton prices went down so Southerners made less money than ever and were not able to pay back their loans

D. Three years of economic depression followed E. President Van Buren, elected in 1836, was blamed for the depression, and did not win re-election

What did the Panic of 1837 cause for many families? Why?

Presidents After Jackson Democrat I. Van Buren (Democrat) 1836 A. Elected in 1836 Depression B. Blamed for the Depression following the Panic of 1837

one C. Only served one term

Whig II. William Henry Harrison (Whig) 1840 A. Elected in 1840 month B. Died of pneumonia less than a month after taking office

III.John Tyler (Democrat turned Whig Whig) Came to office Harrison when Harrison died

accomplished B. Tyler disagreed with most of the Whig policies, so not much was accomplished during his presidency

Whig C. Tyler was eventually kicked out of the Whig party