Has the American government ever historically been shut down, or threatened/come close to being shut down? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

Has the American government ever historically been shut down, or threatened/come close to being shut down?

by jackanapes8

I don't recall in any classes, or books learning about any government shut downs in the past. Seems common place now. Just curious if anything like this occurred in the past. What happened to cause it, how’d it end?

jschooltiger

Hi there -- we as mods have approved this question, but we'd like to remind potential respondents that answers need to be confined to events that happened longer than 20 years ago (1998). Thanks!