The Long Depression followed the Panic of 1873 and began in the United States after the failure of Jay Cooke & Company.
Jay Cooke & Company, a major investment bank, suspended payments on 18 September 1873. Its failure was connected to financial strains surrounding railroad expansion, speculative investment, and tightening credit. The panic spread through American markets and contributed to a prolonged period of falling prices and weak business conditions.
The term Long Depression generally describes the international downturn from the 1870s into the 1890s, although historians differ over its exact start and end dates and over how severe it was in different countries. In Britain, the period is also associated with long deflation and sluggish growth.
It should not be confused with the Great Depression, which began after the 1929 stock-market crash and was much later. The Long Depression included banking failures, railroad bankruptcies, labor unrest, and major changes in industrial competition.