habits and manners of our inhabitants, that it almost appeared as
if we had suddenly become a different nation. The staid and sober
habits of our ancestors, with their plain home-manufactured
clothing, were suddenly laid aside, and European goods of fine
quality adopted in their stead. Fine rues, powdered heads, silks
and scarlets, decorated the men; while the most costly silks,
satins, chintzes, calicoes, muslins, etc., etc., decorated our
females. Nor was their diet less expensive; for superb plate,
foreign spirits, wines, etc., etc., sparkled on the sideboards of
many farmers. The natural result of this change of the habits and
customs of the people--this aping of European manners and morals,
was to suddenly drain our country of its circulating specie; and
as a necessary consequence, the people ran in debt, times became
difficult, and money hard to raise.*

* Samuel Kercheval, "History of the Valley of Virginia," 1833,
pp. 199-200.


The situation was serious, and yet it was not as dangerous or
even as critical as it has generally been represented, because
the fundamental bases of American prosperity were untouched. The
way by which Americans could meet the emergency and recover from
the hard times was fairly evident first to economize, and then to
find new outlets for their industrial energies. But the process
of adjustment was slow and painful. There were not a few persons
in the United States who were even disposed to regret that
Americans were not safely under British protection and prospering
with Great Britain, instead of suffering in political isolation.