banks of New Orleans - New Orleans, LA

Bank Information

Episode Type: Suspension → Reopening
Bank Type: state
Start Date: January 1, 1837*
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana (29.955, -90.075)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: 546d95b0

Response Measures

None

Description

Article (Oct 21, 1873) recounts the 1837 crisis: the banks of New York and New Orleans suspended specie payments (i.e., refused to redeem notes in specie) following the Specie Circular and a commercial revulsion. The article does not explicitly state reopening, but historically these suspensions were temporary; I classify as suspension_reopening while noting the article only documents the suspension.

Events (1)

1. January 1, 1837* Suspension

Cause: Government Action
Cause Details: Suspension of specie payments following the Specie Circular and the post-1837 commercial revulsion; large quantities of specie kept out of circulation by government payment order.
Newspaper Excerpt: the banks of New York and New Orleans suspended specie payments; that is, refused to redeem their notes with gold and silver
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (1)

1. October 21, 1873 New Orleans Republican New Orleans, LA

Article from New Orleans Republican, October 21, 1873

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Article Text

Business men traded extensively on credit, and in many cases gave up honest industry for wild speculation. This unhealthy state of things was necessarily followed be a revulsion, which took place shortly after Mr. Van Buren became President, in 1837. The banks of New York and New Orleans suspended specie payments; that is, refused to redeem their notes with gold and silver, and their example was followed throughout the country. Several hundred mercantile houses immediately stopped payment, and in New Orleans alone failures to the amount of twentyseven million dollars took place within two days. It appears that an order known as the "specie circulat" had been issued by Jackson, requiring all payments to the government to be made in gold and silver, and, it was claimed, large quantities of specie were thus kept out of circulation. A committee of New York merchants petitioned President Van Buren to rescind the circular. He refused, but called an extra session of Congress. That body took measures to protect the government from embartassment, but could do little to relieve the prevalent distress. Now. here was a crisis in commercial and monetary affairs that was brought on by causes similar to those which produced the present one, and that, too, under a Democratic admin. istration and a system of banking that is now asked for by the opponents of our present system. In the crisis of 1837 the whole country was convulsed, and nothing but the foresight and honesty of Jackson prevented the national treasury from being drained at that time. All classes of people then suffered because of the depreciation of bank notes, and the country was a long time recovering from the consequent stagnation of business. The independent treasury system of that day was certainly an improvement over that which prevailed when Jackson vetoed the bill rechartering the United States Bank. This we freely concede if it will afford the Herald any satisfaction. But we will remind it at the same time that we now have an independent treasury combined with a banking system that gives protection to the government and people, who are one and the same, against the money sharks who are constantly laying their snares to entrap both