Black Friday

1、Black Friday, September 24, 1869 was caused by the efforts of two speculators,Jay Gould，and James Fisk, to corner the gold market on the New York Gold Exchange. It was one of several scandals that rocked the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant（April 27, 1822 July 23, 18

2、85) was the 18th President of the United States (186977). HistoryDuring the reconstruction era after the American Civil War, the United States government issued a large amount of public debt to finance construction. This included the issuing of fiat 

3、greenbacks, not backed by gold, but were required to be accepted for the payment of federal debt. It was generally believed that the U.S. Government would ultimately redeem the “greenbacks” with gold. In 1869, a group of speculators, headed by James Fisk and Jay Gould, sought to profi

4、t from this by cornering the gold market. Gould and Fisk first recruited Grants brother-in-law, a financier named Abel Corbin. They used Corbin to get close to Grant in social situations, where they would argue against government sale of gold, and Corbin would support their arguments. Corbin co

5、nvinced Grant to appoint General Daniel Butterfield as assistant Treasurer of the United States. Butterfield agreed to tip the men off when the government intended to sell gold.In the late summer of 1869, Gould began buying large amounts of gold. He never sold this gold. This cau

6、sed prices to rise and stocks to plummet.After Grant realized what had happened, the federal government sold $4 million in gold. On September 20, 1869, Gould and Fisk started hoarding gold, driving the price higher. On September 24 the premium on a gold Double Eagle(representing 0.9675 troy oun

7、ces (30.09 g) of gold bullion at $20) was 30 percent higher than when Grant took office. But when the government gold hit the market, the premium plummeted within minutes. Investors scrambled to sell their holdings, and many of them, including Corbin, were ruined. Fisk and Gould escaped signifi

8、cant financial harm.The subsequent Congressional investigation was chaired by James A. Garfield. The investigation was alleged on the one hand to have been limited because Virginia Corbin and First Lady Julia Grant were not permitted to testify. Garfield's biographe

9、r, Alan Peskin, however, maintains the investigation was quite thorough. Butterfield resigned from the U.S. Treasury. Henry Adams, who believed that President Ulysses S. Grant had tolerated, encouraged, and perhaps even participated in corruption and swindles, attacked Grant in a

10、n 1870 article entitled The New York Gold Conspiracy. Grant's suspected involvement also led his presidency to be called the Era of Good Stealings.Although Grant was not directly involved in the scandal, his personal association with Gould and Fisk gave clout to their attempt to m

11、anipulate the gold market. Also, Grant's order to release gold in response to gold's rising price was itself a manipulation of the market. Grant had personally declined to listen to Gould's ambitious plan to corner the gold market, since the scheme was not announced publicly, but hewho?&

12、#160;could not be trusted. Gould had promoted the plan to Grant as a means to help farmers sell a bountiful 1869 wheat crop to Europe.A highly fictionalized account of Fisk's life, culminating in a dramatic presentation of the gold corner, was shown in the 1937 film The Toast of New York.Sp

13、ecific events· Black Friday (1688), imprisonment of the Seven Bishops of the Church of England (8 June), on the eve of the Glorious Revolution.· Panic of 1866, sometimes referred to as Black Friday, an international financial downturn that accompanied the failure of Overend, Gurney an

14、d Company in London· Black Friday (1869), the Fisk-Gould Scandal (24 September), a financial crisis in the United States.· Black Friday (1881), the Eyemouth disaster (14 October), in which 189 fishermen died.· Haymarket affair (11 November 1887), four Chicago anarchists hanged, w

15、ithout evidence, for the deaths of seven police officers during a labor meeting.· Black Friday (1910), a campaign outside the British House of Commons (18 November) of the Women's Social and Political Union the Conciliation Bill which failed.· Black Friday (1919), the Battle of George

16、Square (31 January), a riot stemming from industrial unrest in Glasgow, Scotland.· Black Friday (1921), the announcement of British transport union leaders (15 April) not to call for strike action against wage reductions for miners.· Black Friday (1939), a day of devastating bushfires

17、 (13 January) in Victoria, Australia, which killed 71 people.· Black Friday (1942), an air raid on Dartmouth, Devon (18 September).· Black Friday (1944), a disastrous attack by The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada (13 October) near Woensdrecht during

18、 the Battle of the Scheldt.· Black Friday (1945), an air battle over Sunnfjord (9 February), the largest over Norway.· Hollywood Black Friday (5 October 1945), a riot at the Warner Bros. studios stemming from a Confederation of Studio Unions (CSU) strike leading to the eventual breaku

19、p of the CSU.· 1950 Red River Flood, which burst several dikes flooding much of Winnipeg, Manitoba (5 May).· The cancellation of Avro Arrow (20 February 1959), which resulted in massive layoffs in the Canadian Aerospace industry.· Black Friday (1960), San Francisco

20、 City protest against the House Un-American Activities Committee.· Black Friday (1963), the assassination of US President John F Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963.· Black Friday (1978), a massacre of protesters in Iran (8 September).· 1985 United States-Canadian tornad

21、o outbreak/The Barrie Tornado, (31 May 1985).· Edmonton Tornado (31 July 1987), a tornado touching down in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.· Friday the 13th mini-crash (13 October 1989), a stock market crash referred to by some as the "Black Friday" crash· Black Friday,

22、an event on 1992 where the screenplay for Aladdin was entirely rewritten by Jeffrey Katzenberg's order.· Black Friday (1993), a series of bomb explosions in Mumbai, India· Black Friday (19 November 1993), when production of the Pixar film Toy Story wa

23、s nearly shut down due to negative reception to the reel by the Disney executives.· Murder of Selena (31 March 1995), nicknamed by Hispanics as "Black Friday" when American singer Selena was killed.· Uphaar Cinema fire (13 June 1997), in New Delhi, India.· Black Friday (Maldives) (13 August 2004), a crackdown in Malé, Maldives on peaceful protesters.· Black Friday (2005), student protesters killed in Meghalaya, India (30 September).· 2009 Jakarta bombings, terrorist attacks at hotels (17 July),