THE NEW YORK GOLD ROOM: Wall Street’s Big Gamble on the Civil War

In all American history, with its many financial booms and busts, only once has the United States Congress stepped in and closed a major financial market in the middle of active trading, trying to stop speculation and cool prices. This took place in 1864 at a bloody point of the Civil War. Its target? The New York Gold Exchange, or Gold Room.

British-born Kinahan Cornwallis (1839-1917) witnessed these events while working in New York City during the War as a reporter for the New York Herald, and he wrote this original account in 1879 as the Gold Exchange was preparing to close its doors. We at Viral History are proud to present it in an updated, readable form as the first in a new series called History Shorts / Original Voices, compelling eye witness accounts of American history.

 

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