There was a great economic crash in 1873, the Panic of 1873, caused by speculative bubble in railroads bursting. Things historians attribute to helping the collapse is a widespread pandemic that incapacitated horses (the form of transportation that was needed to get the coal to the trains not humans ), raging fires (Chicago (1871) and Boston (1872)), and ...... wait for it ....... high tariffs. Fun times -- hope we never see this pattern in history again. [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1873