The success of U.S. drive after the Spanish-American War of 1898 had been long in forming, but the catalyst was the 1873-97 depression and economic downturn, which transformed a long era of deflation into an economic crisis in the United States. In 1890s, farmers had been bludgeoned by falling crop prices, harsh winters, expensive transportation, and massive foreclosures. Richard Olney placed the American crisis within a larger, indeed global, crisis of capitalism. Americans try to escape the crises by being constantly in motion or becoming attracted to those who were. Many debtors in the country and the city turned to silver as a panacea. The importance of the 1896 election is that it was determined by the long depression, especially by the 1893-96 crisis. Thayer Mahan and William McKinley were prepared to take the leap from the chaos of the mid-1890s to an overseas empire of the twentieth century.