Black Friday, It came from, September 24 1869, when the value of gold plummeted.

Today, Black Friday has many meanings, such as the day when retailers offer the biggest sales of the year. In the past, however, Black Friday referred to disasters, such as incidents of violence or widespread financial catastrophe. The first day known as Black Friday occurred in the United States on September 24 of 1869, when the price of gold plummeted, resulting in the financial ruin of a large number of investors. Black-Friday-originThis event was also called the Fisk & Gould scandal, in honor of the speculators who brought about the financial panic. It was one of most damaging scandals that occurred during the eight year presidency of Ulysses S. Grant.

During the United States Civil War, both the Union and Confederate governments resorted to financing the war effort by using fiat currency. Fiat currency is defined as a currency that is not backed by precious metals, such as a nation’s gold or silver reserves. When the Union won the war, the economy was dominated by greenback dollars, whose value would fluctuate.

At the end of the war it took 300 greenback dollars to purchase an ounce of gold, but by 1869, it only cost 130 greenbacks per ounce. Certain investors discovered that by buying gold, they could create an increased demand for it, thus driving up its price. This is called speculation, and it is what eventually led to the gold panic of 1869.