When the national economy fell into a recession in the mid-1870s, he blamed the crisis on the unstable currency and forced through the resumption of specie payments. While this pleased eastern creditors, whose loans would be paid back in money more valuable than it was when they lent it, westerners and workers loathed both the deed and the man behind it. Sherman also began to pay off the national debt, which further tightened the money supply by taking cash out of circulation.
