Comparison of major 19th and early 20th century recessions
Recession	Length	Business activity
Depression of 1873–79 Long Depression The Long Depression was a worldwide economic crisis, felt most heavily in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing strong economic growth fueled by the Second Industrial Revolution in the decade following the American Civil War. At the time, the episode was labeled the Great...	65 mos.	-33.6%
Depression of 1882–85	38 mos.	-32.8%
Depression of 1893–94 Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...	17 mos.	-37.3%
Recession of 1907–08 Panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic, was a financial crisis that occurred in the United States when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. Panic occurred, as this was during a time of economic recession, and there were numerous runs on...	13 mos.	-29.2%
1921 recession 1921 recession The Depression of 1920–21 was an extremely sharp deflationary recession in the United States, shortly after the end of World War I. It lasted from January 1920 to July 1921...	18 mos.	-38.1%

The Depression of 1882–85 or Recession of 1882–85 was a recession

Recession

In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 that lasted from March 1882 to May 1885, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research

National Bureau of Economic Research

The National Bureau of Economic Research is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community." The NBER is well known for providing start and end...

. At 38 months in length this is the third-longest recession in the NBER's chronology of business cycles from 1854 to present. Only the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 and Long Depression of 1873–79

Long Depression

The Long Depression was a worldwide economic crisis, felt most heavily in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing strong economic growth fueled by the Second Industrial Revolution in the decade following the American Civil War. At the time, the episode was labeled the Great...

 are longer.

Like the Long Depression

Long Depression

The Long Depression was a worldwide economic crisis, felt most heavily in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing strong economic growth fueled by the Second Industrial Revolution in the decade following the American Civil War. At the time, the episode was labeled the Great...

 that preceded it, the Recession of 1882–85 was more of a price depression than a production depression. From 1879 to 1882 there had been a boom in railroad construction. In 1878 workers built 2,665 miles of railroad. By 1882 this figure had quadrupled to 11,569 miles. In 1882 this trend reversed, resulting in a decline in railroad construction and a decline in related industries, particularly iron and steel. A major economic event during the recession was the Panic of 1884

Panic of 1884

The Panic of 1884 was a panic during the Recession of 1882-85. Gold reserves of Europe were depleted and the New York City national banks, with tacit approval of the United States Treasury Department, halted investments in the rest of the United States and called in outstanding loans. A larger...

.

Economic data from the era are very spotty. Much of what is known comes from the reporting of the business newspaper the Commercial & Financial Chronicle

Commercial & Financial Chronicle

The Commercial & Financial Chronicle was a business newspaper in the United States founded by William Buck Dana in 1865. Published weekly, the Commercial & Financial Chronicle was deliberately modeled to be an American take on the popular business newspaper The Economist, which had been founded...

. In terms of severity, according to Victor Zarnowitz

Victor Zarnowitz

Victor Zarnowitz was a leading scholar on business cycles, indicators, and forecast evaluation. Dr. Zarnowitz was Senior Fellow and Economic Counselor to The Conference Board...

, indexes of business activity show that the recession was not as severe as the declines in 1873, 1893, and 1921, but was more severe than the other recessions between the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

.