This Day in Wall Street History 1837: Presentiment of a panic

On this day in 1837, an irate group of unemployed New Yorkers gathered to protest skyrocketing food and fuel prices, as well as the city's rapidly escalating rents.

The demonstration quickly degenerated into violence, as the workers turned their anger on a flour warehouse.

For the city, as well as the rest of the nation, the outburst was a strong indicator of the fiscal troubles that would bubble over later that year.

Come that May, a host of events -- including a wave of bank failures and a brewing recession -- both of which stemmed from President Andrew Jackson's decision to yank all federal deposits from the second Bank of the United States, signaled the onset of the Panic of 1837.

The panic hung over America for the next seven years, debilitating the nation's economy and triggering rampant unemployment.

Source: History.com