Question

1. What two-word term, which describes a modern-day retail event, was originally used in 1869 in reference to the collapse of the U.S. gold market?

Answer 1

This period of time is known as Black Friday. In 1869, two people named Jay Gould and James Fisk, considering that at the time gold was still used as international currency, sought to corner the gold market by purchasing every single gold unit they could get their hands on. This caused the price of gold  to highly rise for a small period of time, but having discovered the scheme of these two, former President Grant released millions of dollars in gold on a Friday. This release caused the price of gold to plummet, and the country entered economic turmoil.

Answer 2

The term is “Black Friday”. It was a terrible crisis in 1869 in the United States because while the government tried to recover after the civil war, it had many debts to pay, and for financed them, the government emitted coins and bonus equivalent to gold, this opportunity let stability in the country. However, Jay Gould and James Fisk, were two characters who had knowledge about that and they took advantage of the situation, accumulating all the gold they could. After almost two months, the president discovered them so Jay Gould began to sell the majority of gold. This fact caused the Black Friday so the price of gold increased from 144 to 200 dollars creating a big crisis in WallStreet.

Nowadays the "Black Friday" is an event that means discount and season offers in minority stores.