 The crisis deepened when the Bank of England suspended specie payments on February 25, 1797 under the Bank Restriction Act of 1797.The Bank's directors feared insolvency when English account holders, who were nervous about a possible French invasion, began withdrawing their deposits in sterling rather than bank notes.In combination with the unfolding collapse of the U.S. real estate market's speculative bubble, the Bank of England's action had deflationary repercussions in the financial and commercial markets of the coastal United States and the Caribbean at the start of the 19th century.