7. The effects of the War of 1812 added to the financial disaster which befell farmers in 1816
War is often disastrous to economies, but armies need food, and that food is provided by farmers. During the War of 1812, the price of grain grew astronomically, leading farmers whose lands were far from the battle lines to increase their landholdings, confident in high prices for grain holding for the foreseeable future. Many in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio added to the size of their farms by borrowing against land already owned to purchase additional acreage. The harvest of 1816 would, in the calculations of many, make the purchase worthwhile. In practice, the weather in 1816 brought about financial ruin. The series of cold waves which swept down from Canada that spring left fields unplanted, fodder for animals non-existent, or when available too expensive to purchase.
By mid-June, 1816, farms in western Pennsylvania were being abandoned with regularity, distraught farmers heading further west, away from the tax collector and the money lenders. Animals, particularly pigs, were left behind to fend for themselves. A great migration was underway in the United States, driven not so much by the promise of prosperity in the fertile lands of the West as, by the demands of bankers and tax collectors in the East, intent on acquiring the money owed them. It was needed to fund investment in the newly emerging cities, including Pittsburgh, where the failure of crops was little felt during the summer of 1816, though its impact would be brutal in the following year.