What did the term 'crime of 73' refer to in the context of American monetary policy?

What did the term 'crime of 73' refer to in the context of American monetary policy?

• A. the decision by Congress in 1873 to stop buying and minting silver.
• B. the financial panic that hit the United States in 1873.
• C. the decision by Congress in 1873 to stop buying and minting gold.
• D. Ulysses S. Grant's return to the Oval Office for a second term.

Answer: (A)

This question tests understanding of the shift in U.S. money policy in the 1870s around silver versus gold. The term “crime of ’73” refers to Congress’s 1873 Coinage Act, which ended the government’s practice of buying silver and, more importantly, demonetized silver by stopping the minting of silver dollars as standard currency. In effect, it moved the United States toward a gold standard and reduced the money supply that many debtors and Western farmers hoped would be expanded through silver coinage. That’s why this label took hold: those who favored silver believed demonetizing silver harmed farmers and debtors by keeping prices low and making debts harder to pay, while supporters of a gold standard or monetary restraint saw it as a prudent move. The other choices don’t fit because this isn’t about a financial panic, it isn’t about halting gold coinage, and it isn’t about Grant’s presidential term.

This question tests understanding of the shift in U.S. money policy in the 1870s around silver versus gold. The term “crime of ’73” refers to Congress’s 1873 Coinage Act, which ended the government’s practice of buying silver and, more importantly, demonetized silver by stopping the minting of silver dollars as standard currency. In effect, it moved the United States toward a gold standard and reduced the money supply that many debtors and Western farmers hoped would be expanded through silver coinage.

That’s why this label took hold: those who favored silver believed demonetizing silver harmed farmers and debtors by keeping prices low and making debts harder to pay, while supporters of a gold standard or monetary restraint saw it as a prudent move. The other choices don’t fit because this isn’t about a financial panic, it isn’t about halting gold coinage, and it isn’t about Grant’s presidential term.