View source for Black Friday (1869)

{{Short description|American gold panic}}
[[File:Black Friday 1869.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Photograph of the blackboard in the New York Gold Room, September 24, 1869, showing the collapse of the price of gold. Handwritten caption by [[James A. Garfield]] indicates it was used as evidence before the Committee of Banking & Currency during hearings in 1870.]]
On September 24, 1869, a gold panic broke out in the United States, triggering a financial crisis. The panic, which became known as '''Black Friday''', was the result of a conspiracy between two investors, [[Jay Gould]], later joined by his partner [[James Fisk (financier)|James Fisk]], and [[Abel Corbin]], a small time speculator who had married Virginia (Jennie) Grant, the younger sister of President [[Ulysses S. Grant]]. They formed the Gold Ring to [[Cornering the market|corner the gold market]] and force up the price of the metal on the [[New York Gold Exchange]]. The scandal took place during the [[Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant|Grant Presidency]]. The [[US Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]], [[George S. Boutwell]], had a policy to sell Treasury gold at biweekly intervals for a [[sinking fund]] to pay off the [[US national debt|national debt]]. Along with other, non-routine gold sales, this infusion of cash acted to stabilize the dollar.  The economy  had gone through tremendous upheaval during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] 1861–1865  and was not yet fully restored.

Gould, hoping to take advantage of Corbin's relationship with his brother-in-law, President Grant, persuaded Corbin to introduce him to Grant. Gould and Fisk hoped that befriending the President would get them privy information about the government's gold policy—and even prevent the sale of gold—and thereby manipulate the market. It did not work, being foiled by the government, yet resulted in a scandal that undermined both the credibility of [[Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant|Grant's presidency]] and the national economy. Gould and Fisk used their personal appearances with Grant to gain credibility on [[Stock market|Wall Street]] in addition to using their [[insider information]].

During the first week of September, Grant's [[US Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] [[George S. Boutwell]] received a letter from Grant. It told him that gold sales would be harmful to Western farmers, a notion planted by Gould and Fisk. Boutwell countermanded his own order to sell a great deal of gold, suspending non-routine Treasury gold sales for the rest of the month. At the same time, Gould, now joined by Fisk, continued buying gold through New York City's Gold Room, raising the price of gold. After learning about the nature of their scheme, Grant first told Corbin to unload his gold holdings before ordering the release of $4 million in government gold on September 24. Grant's move immediately drove down the price of gold, crushing the Gold Ring's corner on the market. A panic on Wall Street ensued and the country went through months of economic turmoil, although a national depression was averted. Gould and Fisk hired the best defense available. Favored by [[William M. Tweed|Tweed Ring]] judges, the conspiratorial partners escaped prosecution. An 1870 government investigation, headed by fellow Republican [[James A. Garfield]], exonerated Grant of any illicit involvement in the conspiracy.

==History==
To finance the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] and [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], the [[United States government|federal government]] had assumed a large national debt, escalating from $64 million in 1860 to $2.8 billion by the end of the [[Andrew Johnson]] administration, when Grant was elected president in 1868.{{sfn|White|2016|p=478}} The problem was further compounded when the federal government issued paper money during the Civil War, known as [[Greenback (1860s money)|"greenbacks"]], which were not redeemable in gold. Mandated as the only payment for federal debts, "both public and private", these "notes" served to take gold currency out of circulation, in accordance with [[Gresham's law]], causing the price of gold to rise sharply. It was generally believed that the U.S. Government would eventually redeem the "greenbacks" with gold.{{sfn|White|2016|p=478}}

Grant believed that putting "sound money" back into circulation was the best approach to restoring the nation's economy.{{sfn|Smith|2001|pp=480–481}}{{sfn|White|2016|p=482}} 
Determined to return the national economy to pre-war monetary standards, one of his first actions as president was to sign the [[Public Credit Act of 1869]], which established a 10-year timetable for returning to the gold standard<ref>[[#Federal Reserve|U.S. Federal Reserve Board, 2007]]</ref> by repaying U.S. bonds in "gold or its equivalent" and redeeming greenbacks from the economy as soon as possible.

Grant had put the talented George S. Boutwell in charge of the U.S. Treasury. Boutwell's primary task was to reduce the national debt. To accomplish this, he ordered his assistant treasurer to begin selling gold from the Treasury and buying up wartime bonds in April 1869. He also initiated reforms in the Treasury Department by improving methods of tax collecting and attacking the problem of counterfeiting. By the end of May, the national debt had been reduced by $12 million. Boutwell's treasury policy of reducing the national debt kept the money supply level and the gold price artificially low.{{sfn|White|2016|p=478}} The goal of Grant's policy was to reduce the amount of greenbacks in circulation{{how|date=February 2024}} that could be redeemed in [[gold dollar|gold]] at some future date.{{sfn|White|2016|p=478}}

==Cornering the gold market==
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In 1869, [[Jay Gould]], a director of the [[Erie Railroad]], sought to corner the gold market with the connivance of [[Abel Corbin]], a financier with a shady past who was President Grant's brother-in-law. They worked to persuade the President to stop Secretary of the Treasury Boutwell from releasing weekly gold (but not affecting those routine gold sales for the sinking fund) from U.S. Treasury, with the intention of raising the gold price.{{sfnm|Ackerman|2011|1pp=58–59|Chernow|2017|2p=672}} [[James Fisk (financier)|James Fisk]], another director who had made his fortune as a cotton smuggler during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]],{{sfn|White|2016|pp=479–480}} controlled the Erie Railroad in conjunction with Gould. He joined the conspiracy in force later on. The first step in Corbin and Gould's plan was to recruit [[Daniel Butterfield]], a former major general and war hero during the Civil War
{{sfn|Chernow|2017|p=674}} who lacked any experience in finance. Both Corbin and Gould lobbied successfully for Butterfield's appointment as the assistant treasurer,{{sfn|Chernow|2017|p=674}} through whom Boutwell gave orders to sell Treasury Department gold. Gould bribed Butterfield with a $10,000 check, more than Butterfield's annual salary of $8,000. Butterfield agreed to tip the men off when the government intended to sell gold.{{sfnm|White|2016|1pp=480–481|Chernow|2017|2p=674}}

Corbin was considered a smooth talker and had made money speculating in real estate. More importantly to Fisk and Gould, he had direct access to Grant.{{sfn|White|2016|pp=479, 481}} They used Corbin's relationship to get close to Grant in social situations, where they argued against government sale of gold, reinforced by Corbin.{{sfn|White|2016|p=481}} Gould also attempted to bribe Grant's personal secretary [[Horace Porter]] by giving him a $500,000 gold account in his name, but Porter, a former military aide to Grant,{{sfn|Brands|2012|p=442}} stated that he declined the offer.{{sfn|White|2016|p=481}} Not accustomed to having such offers turned down, Gould went ahead and made the purchase and opened a brokerage account in Porter's name regardless. When Porter was informed of Gould's unauthorized transaction, he refused the offer in writing. In similar fashion, Corbin approached Grant's wife Julia and attempted to entice her into accepting half interest in $250,000 in bonds, but she turned that offer down.{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=484}}

Gould secured controlling interest in the federally audited New York's [[Tenth National Bank]], a Wall Street broker's bank that was used as a facility to contract business.{{sfn|White|2016|p=481}}{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=484}} In addition to meeting at Corbin's mansion, Fisk and Gould also talked with Grant on their Erie Canal railroad car and in Fisk's box seats at New York's [[Fifth Avenue Theatre]].{{sfn|White|2016|p=481}} Gould suggested to Grant that increasing gold prices would lower the dollar and allow farmers in the West to sell their crops overseas, but Grant gave no response. Both Grant and Boutwell strongly felt that the nation's wartime debt had to be paid to assure the credibility of the United States in the eyes of the European banks. To accomplish this, Boutwell began selling gold from the Treasury's reserve of $100 million in [[gold bar]]s, initially without the President's express consent, and using the proceeds to buy back U.S. bonds. Boutwell's controversial approach was later endorsed by Grant, giving Boutwell all the latitude he needed. Boutwell later wrote that only outsiders unaware of the finer designs of his dealings thought "the President was taking any part in the operations of the treasury concerning the price of gold". Grant, meanwhile, was unaware that his appearances in the company of Gould and Fisk sent a message to Wall Street that he supported raising the gold price.{{sfn|White|2016|p=482}}

When buying gold and bonds, Boutwell placed all his orders through Daniel Butterfield in New York. To reduce the temptation of illicit dealing, Boutwell, at Butterfield's recommendation, publicly announced his orders by telegraphing the news to the [[Associated Press]]. Over the next few months Treasury gold began to flood the market while Boutwell began buying back wartime bonds. By September 1, Boutwell had reduced the national debt by $50 million. He continued this practice at an accelerated rate while Grant, having closely followed Boutwell's dealings, began to express reservations and sent him a letter from [[Washington, Pennsylvania]], criticizing that driving the price of gold down would hurt farmers. Many brokerage firms collapsed while trade volume and agriculture prices plummeted, causing a mild recession, but by January 1870, the economy resumed its post-war recovery.{{sfnm|McFeely|2002|1p=328|Smith|2001|2p=490}} Boutwell saw little merit in either Grant's or Gould's arguments, feeling that the government had no place in manipulating the market regardless of who benefited. However, not wanting to go against the President, Boutwell ordered Butterfield to halt semi-weekly September government gold sales. Believing he now had a "green light" from Grant, Gould began buying gold through brokers at an accelerated rate, increasing his gold stake from $10 to $18 million in [[Coin|specie]].{{sfn|White|2016|p=482}}{{sfn|Ackerman|2011|pp=93–94}}

==Breaking the Gold Ring==
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Starting on September 1, 1869, Gould and Fisk put their plot into motion by purchasing $1.5{{nbsp}}million in gold in the names of Corbin and Butterfield. The conspirators would make $15,000 (${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|15000|1869|r=-3}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}) for every dollar rise in the price of gold (which was quoted in increments of $100 face value of gold coin, each containing 4.8375 troy ounces). By September 6, the gold quote had risen from $132.50 to $137. By September 7, Gould was faced with a startling reversal when members of his group were directed to sell off the $6{{nbsp}}million they had achieved during the previous buying frenzy of April 1869.{{sfn|Ackerman|2011|p=96}} Prices of gold fell sharply from $137 to $134 in one day. Gould lost more than $100,000 in two days.

Abandoned by his associates, Gould looked to Fisk for assistance, but he was away on railroad business. Fisk returned to New York on September 8 and found Gould worried and depressed. Fisk reminded Gould that he still had "enough gold to sink a ship" while the two looked to others and devised other schemes to come out on top, but they knew by this time that if they began buying again, the Treasury would counter their efforts and begin selling at an accelerated rate once again.{{sfn|Ackerman|2011|pp=96–98}}

Gould and Fisk had a list of every broker and speculator who had borrowed gold from the gold exchange, some 250 in all, including [[Jay Cooke]], the biggest financier on Wall Street and a prominent voice urging Grant to step in and break the Gold Ring.{{sfn|Ackerman|2011|pp=148–149}} Fisk proposed that the list be published in the newspapers the next day with the demand that the "bulls and bears" settle on their debts by three o'clock, at a fixed rate of $160. If they refused, Fisk was ready to squeeze them at an even higher rate, a scheme that bordered on blackmail. Fisk's associates scoffed at the scheme and criticized Fisk of being true to form for suggesting such an unconventional idea. After being warned that the idea violated New York State criminal conspiracy law, Gould, Fisk and their associates chose another approach: On Friday, they drove the price of gold to an even higher price by buying large amounts of gold at the current high price and selling even higher, regardless of the political and economic effects. Fisk, however, saw the flaw to this alternative approach, fearing that pushing the price of gold up too quickly would provoke the President to step in and break the gold corner.{{sfn|Ackerman|2011|pp=172–173}}
[[File:Gold room scene on Black Friday.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Panic in Gold room on Black Friday]]
On September 12, Grant warned Boutwell that a "desperate struggle" was taking place between the "bulls and bears" of the gold market and that Boutwell should continue the current policy, which was to suspend the sales of gold. Corbin told Gould he was concerned that Grant would start selling gold from the Treasury, so Gould told Corbin to write a letter to Grant encouraging him not to sell.{{sfn|White|2016|p=482}} Corbin wrote Grant the letter, now lost, encouraging Grant not to sell gold. Fisk had the letter delivered by William Chapin of the Erie Railroad, to Washington, Pennsylvania, where Grant was vacationing with his wife's cousin. Interrupting Grant's croquet game, Chapin gave him Corbin's letter, whereupon Grant read the letter and told Chapin that it was satisfactory, but said, "No, nothing" when Chapin asked for a reply.{{sfn|Brands|2012|p=442}} When Chapin had left, Porter told Grant about Gould setting up a $500,000 gold account in Porter's name.{{sfn|White|2016|p=483}} Upon hearing this, Grant finally realized what Gould and Fisk were up to. Through a letter his wife was writing to his sister, Grant urged Corbin to have nothing to do with Gould and Fisk and get out of the speculation, and Grant promptly arranged a meeting with Boutwell.{{sfn|White|2016|pp=483–484}} On September 20, 1869, Gould and Fisk started hoarding gold, driving the price higher. Gold closed at $141 on September 22, at which time Fisk and Gould owned between $50 and $60{{nbsp}}million in gold between the two of them, about three times the public supply available in New York. The increase in gold prices on this day alone had netted a profit of $1.75{{nbsp}}million for the two conspirators.{{sfn|Ackerman|2011|pp=151}} On Thursday, September 23, Gould visited Corbin's house and was informed of Julia's letter, which had arrived that day. After reading it and discovering that Grant was annoyed with Corbin's speculations, Gould knew that Grant was likely to sell government gold on Friday.{{sfn|McFeely|2002|pp=326–327}} Subsequently, Corbin asked Gould if he would buy Corbin's account so he could tell Grant that he no longer owned any gold, but Gould refused to bail Corbin out, fearing it would trigger a collapse in the market. Instead, he offered Corbin $100,000 interest{{sfn|McFeely|2002|p=327}} and exclaimed, "Mr. Corbin, I am undone if that letter gets out".{{sfn|Brands|2012|p=444}} Gould chose not to inform Fisk of this recent development.{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=487}} When Grant returned to Washington D.C., he found $60,000 worth of gifts from the Gold Ring sent to the White House. Sensing bribery, Grant immediately ordered the paintings and statues boxed up and returned.{{sfn|White|2016|pp=483–484}}

On September 23, Grant and Boutwell met and the two decided to break the Gold Ring by selling gold from the treasury if the gold price continued to rise.{{sfn|White|2016|p=484}} On September 24, Gould began quietly selling his gold while Gold Room agents put up a public front and continued buying at a lesser rate with Fisk leading the spurious buying activity.{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=487}}{{sfn|McFeely|2002|p=327}} When gold had surpassed $155 on Friday, September 24, Grant ordered Boutwell to release $4{{nbsp}}million in gold and buy $4{{nbsp}}million worth of bonds. Within minutes, the price of gold dropped from $160 to $138 and Gould's and Fisk's gold corner was broken.{{sfn|White|2016|p=484}} Some speculators were ruined, while gamblers who had bet that the gold price would go down made money.{{sfn|McFeely|2002|p=328}} Corbin lost money on the loan he had taken to buy gold.{{sfn|McFeely|2002|p=328}}
{{clear}}

==Aftermath and investigation==
[[File:What a fall was there, my countrymen! - Th. Nast. LCCN97519098.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Political cartoon depicting the impact of the panic on Wall Street]]
[[file:James Abram Garfield, photo portrait seated.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|{{center|[[James A. Garfield]]<br>Chairman of the House Banking Committee}}]]

The Black Friday September 24 gold crash caused the United States financial devastation for months. On Saturday, September 25, Gould, Fisk and Corbin met at Gould's office at the Opera House, each claiming to be the victim and blaming the other for the disaster.{{sfn|Ackerman|2011|p=206}} Obligated to make good on all debts, the [[New York Gold Exchange|Gold Exchange Bank]] no longer had enough reserves to cover the mounting debts,{{sfn|Ackerman|2011|p=214}} while the situation there deteriorated by the hour.{{sfn|Ackerman|2011|p=220}} The Tenth National Bank, which normally closed at 3:00 pm on that day, had depositors and speculators crowding the sidewalk at its front door. The police set up patrols inside and outside the bank.{{sfn|Ackerman|2011|p=214}}

Stock prices dropped by 20 percent from September 24 to October 1, while trade was minimal. Between January 1870 and September 1870, only 4 million shares of stock were exchanged. Dozens of brokerage firms went bankrupt, those who bought paper gold from Fisk's gold room going unpaid. Farmers, who constituted 50 percent of the country's workforce, suffered the worst: wheat prices on the Chicago trade fell from $1.40 to $0.77 a bushel, corn dropped from $0.95 to $0.68, and other commodities such as rye, oats, and barley had similar losses.{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=490}} The [[New York Tribune]] reported that goods ready for export could not be shipped.<ref>[http://www.history.com/news/the-black-friday-gold-scandal-145-years-ago The "Black Friday" Gold Scandal, 145 Years Ago]</ref>{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=490}} Grant's and Boutwell's actions to break the Gold Ring, however, kept the Wall Street panic from growing into a national depression.{{sfn|White|2016|p=485}} Butterfield was allowed to resign from the [[U.S. Treasury]] without an investigation in October, 1869.{{sfn|Adams|1891|p=364}}

The subsequent [[United States Congress|Congressional]] investigation<ref>[[#brigham|41st Congress, 2d session; March 1, 1870; James A. Garfield, chairman]]</ref> was chaired by Republican [[James A. Garfield]]. Grant's decision to counter the escalating price of gold did not completely dispel rumors that he and his administration had profited from the affair.{{sfn|Brands|2012|p=445}} It has been alleged on the one hand that the investigation had been limited because Virginia Corbin and [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Julia Grant]] were not called to testify at President Grant's behest. Julia Grant may even have received $25,000 in profits from the speculation. The committee's Republican majority rejected the proffered testimony from a D.C. businessman who reported seeing the $25,000 entry in an [[Adams Funds|Adams Express Company]] ledger. When forced to confront the entry in the ledger, however, even the Adams Express executive who brought the ledger in admitted that his first impression was that the figures in the entry for Mrs. U. S. Grant were $25,000. The committee's Republicans put forth the excuse this was really a $250.00 entry and denied "the groundless and wicked charge, that Mrs. Grant was interested in this speculation." Garfield's biographer, Alan Peskin maintains that the investigation was quite thorough.{{sfn|Adams|1891|p=364}} The investigation cleared Grant of wrongdoing, but excoriated Gould for his manipulation of the gold market and Corbin for exploiting his personal connections to Grant. Butterfield was implicated for serving as a double agent giving information to Gould.{{sfn|Brands|2012|pp=445–446}} In his Congressional testimony, Gould said Grant "was a very pure, high-minded man; that if he was satisfied what was the best thing to do, that was what he would do."{{sfn|Brands|2012|p=442}}

Dodging any financial harm, Fisk and Gould escaped conviction, spending money to buy the best legal defense, including talented attorney [[David Dudley Field II|David Dudley Field]], while Democratic [[Tammany Hall|Tweed Ring]] judges such as [[Albert Cardozo]] shielded them in court. Gould remained a force on Wall Street, and when he died in December 1892, his estate was worth $70 million. Fisk remained wealthy, but was caught in a scandalous love triangle and shot to death on January 6, 1872. Boutwell served the remainder of Grant's first term, and resigned in 1873 to run for United States senator from Massachusetts, serving until 1877 before retiring to private life.{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=490}} In 1871, the Tweed Ring run by [[William M. Tweed|"Boss" Tweed]] was broken by New York reformers including [[Edwards Pierrepont]], Grant's future Attorney General, and prominent member of the Committee of Seventy.{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=585}}{{sfn|Shefter|1992|p=18}}

[[Henry Brooks Adams|Henry Adams]] believed that President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] was much too tolerant of his corrupt associates. In 1870, Adams wrote an article, "The New York Gold Conspiracy", that detailed Gould and Fisk's scheme to corner the gold market, and hinted that Grant had participated in or at least known of the scheme.<ref>[[#pbs|PBS: Biography: Henry Adams]]</ref>

[[File:Grant Thwarting the Gold Ring 1869.tif|thumb|250px|alt=Cartoon, entitled "The 'Boy of the Period' Stirring up the Animals', shows Fisk poking bulls and bears and a man running toward them with a bag in his hand|A cartoon showing Jim Fisk stirring up the gold market in New York. Grant is shown running holding a bag of gold.]]

==See also==
* [[Bibliography of Ulysses S. Grant]]
* [[Ulysses S. Grant presidential administration scandals]]
* [[Panic of 1857]] 
* [[Panic of 1893]]
* [[Silver Thursday]]
* [[:template:Stock market crashes|Stock market crashes]]
* ''[[The Toast of New York]]'' – 1937 film of fictionalized story of Fisk's life, with dramatic presentation of the gold corner.

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|20em}}

=== Sources ===
; Books
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title = The Gold Ring: Jim Fisk, Gould, and the Black Friday, 1869 |last=Ackerman |first=Kenneth D. |year=2011 |orig-year=1988 |publisher=Dodd, Mead & Co |location=New York |isbn=978-0-396-09065-6 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0_IXAQAAMAAJ }}
* {{cite book |last=Adams |first=Henry |title=Historical Essays |author-link=Henry Brooks Adams |publisher=C. Scribner's Sons |year=1891 |isbn=9780722219416 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nkoMAAAAIAAJ }}
* {{cite book |last=Andrews |first = E. Benjamin |title = History of the United States from the Earliest Discovery of America to the Present Day, Volume IV |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location = New York|year=1895 |url = http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/license/license.htm }}
* {{cite book |last=Brands |first=H. W. |author-link = H.W. Brands |title=The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses S. Grant in War and Peace |publisher=Doubleday |location=New York |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-385-53241-9 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=T2ERAmB4lbYC }}
* {{cite book |last=Chernow |first=Ron |author-link = Ron Chernow |title=Grant |publisher=Penguin Press |location = New York|year=2017 |isbn=978-1-5942-0487-6 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wRYcDgAAQBAJ }}
*{{cite book |last=Garfield |first=James A. |title = Investigation Into the Causes of the Gold Panic: Report of the Majority of the Committee on Banking and Currency |url = https://archive.org/stream/investigationin00garfgoog#page/n6/mode/2up |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |date=March 1, 1870 }}
* {{cite book |last=McFeely |first=William S. |author-link = William S. McFeely |title=Grant: A Biography |publisher= Norton |year=2002 |isbn = 0-393-01372-3 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GdpmKTM5zTwC }}
* {{cite book |last=Shefter |first=Martin |title=Political Crisis Fiscal Crisis: The Collapse and Revival of New York City |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=[[New York City|New York]]|year = 1992 |isbn=0-231-07942-7 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=I-4tdn4sINgC }}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Jean Edward |author-link=Jean Edward Smith |title=Grant |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |year=2001 |isbn=0-684-84927-5 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TssAXSdPTi4C }}
* {{cite book |last=Unger |first=Irwin |author-link = Irwin Unger |title=Greenback Era |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2015 |orig-year=1968 |isbn=978-1-4008-7766-9 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=WTPWCgAAQBAJ&q=grant |ref=unger }}
* {{cite book |title=American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant |last=White |first=Ronald C. |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-5883-6992-5 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TPNRCwAAQBAJ }}
{{refend}}

; Web sources
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web |title=Biography: Henry Adams |publisher=PBS American Experience |access-date=December 11, 2016 |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/grant-adams/ |ref=pbs |archive-date=December 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202012313/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/grant-adams// |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite web |first=41st Congress, 2d session, House of Representatives, report no. 31." |last=United States, Congress, Committee on Banking and Currency; James A. Garfield, chairman |title=Investigation into the causes of the gold panic: report of the majority of the Committee on Banking and Currency, March 1, 1870 |publisher=Brigham Young University |access-date=December 12, 2016 |url=http://link.lib.byu.edu/portal/Investigation-into-the-causes-of-the-gold-panic-/M-EmGZH58nk/ |ref=brigham |archive-date=December 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221025404/http://link.lib.byu.edu/portal/Investigation-into-the-causes-of-the-gold-panic-/M-EmGZH58nk/ |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/ifdp/2007/898/ifdp898.htm |title=Three Great American Disinflations: 1. introduction |publisher=U.S.Federal Reserve Board |access-date=December 17, 2016 |ref=Federal Reserve }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |title=Life, adventures, strange career and assassination of Col. James Fisk, Jr
|last=Barclay |first=George L. |publisher=Barclay & Co. |location = Philadelphia |year=1872  |url = https://archive.org/details/lifeadventuresst00barc }}
* {{cite book |last=Conway |first=J. North |title = Big Policeman: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Byrnes, America's First, Most Ruthless, and Greatest Detective |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2011 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a_V7BAAAQBAJ |isbn=978-0-7627-7732-7 }} (Good coverage of Jay Gould, Black Friday & other business dealings, including Tammany)
* {{cite book |last=Garfield |first=James Abram |title=Investigation Into the Causes of the Gold Panic: Report of the Majority of the majority of Committee on Banking and Currency   |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1870 |url = https://archive.org/details/investigationin00garfgoog }}
* {{cite book |last=Grodinsky |first=Julius |title=Jay Gould, his business career, 1867–1892 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=1957 |isbn= 9780608325071|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wDAdAAAAIAAJ }}
* {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Willoughby |publisher=Union Publishing Co., 513 pages |year=1872 |title=Life of James Fisk ... the Great Frauds of the Tammany Ring |url = https://archive.org/details/lifejamesfiskjr00jonegoog }}
* {{cite book |title=Life of Jay Gould, how He Made His Millions ... |first1=Murat |last1=Halstead  |first2=J. Frank |last2=Beale |first3=Willis Fletcher |last3=Johnson |publisher=Edgewood Publishing Co. |year=1892 |url = https://archive.org/details/lifejaygouldhow00johngoog }} (eBook, 499 pages)
* {{cite book |title=The Life and Times of Col. James Fisk, Jr. |first=Robert W. |last=McAlpine |publisher=The New York Book Co. |year=1872 |url = https://archive.org/details/lifeandtimescol00mcalgoog }}
* {{cite book |last=Northrop |first=Henry Davenport |year=1892 |title=Life and achievements of Jay Gould |publisher=R.A.H. Morrow, 542 pages |isbn=9780665346026 |url = https://archive.org/details/cihm_34602 }}

* Renehan Jr. Edward J. ''Dark Genius of Wall Street: The Misunderstood Life of Jay Gould, King of the Robber Barons'' (2005)

* {{cite book |title=The life of James Fisk, jr., a full and accurate narrative of his career, his great enterprises, and his assassination |last=Stafford |first=Marshall P |publisher=Polhemus & Pearson, printers |location = New York |year=1872 |url = https://archive.org/details/lifeofjamesfiskj00stafiala }}
* {{cite book |last=White |first=Trumbull |title=Wizard of Wall Street and his wealth, or, The life and deeds of Jay Gould |publisher=J.C. Yorston |year=1893 |url = https://archive.org/details/wizardofwallstre00whit  }} (eBook, 358 pages)

==External links==
* H.W. Brands, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU0PPyV2iSg "Lecture on Black Friday, 1869,"] (video) Hauerstein Center for Presidential Studies, Grand Valley State University, May 25, 2011. <small>(1:04:29 running time)</small>
* [http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/12900/12901/black-fri_12901.htm Illustration: "The New York Gold Room on 'Black Friday,' September 24, 1869." – E. Benjamin Andrews 1895]
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/grant-black-friday/ PBS American Experience]

{{United States–Commonwealth of Nations recessions}}
{{Financial crises}}
{{Financial bubbles}}
{{Ulysses S. Grant}}

[[Category:1869 in American politics]]
[[Category:1869 in economic history]]
[[Category:September 1869]]
[[Category:Economic crises in the United States]]
[[Category:Grant administration controversies]]
[[Category:Gold standard]]
[[Category:Presidential scandals in the United States]]
[[Category:Stock market crashes in the United States]]
[[Category:Gold investments]]
[[Category:Gold in the United States]]
[[Category:William M. Tweed]]