The 1792 U.S. financial panic was called the Panic of 1792.
The crisis developed in the young United States after rapid speculation in government securities and bank shares. William Duer and Alexander Macomb borrowed heavily to speculate, and their inability to repay debts contributed to falling prices and financial distress. The panic spread through markets connected to New York and Philadelphia.
Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton responded by arranging government purchases of securities and encouraging banks to provide liquidity. His actions helped stabilize prices and are often considered an early example of a central-government response to a financial panic in the United States.
The episode also helped produce the Buttonwood Agreement of May 17, 1792. Twenty-four brokers signed the agreement under a buttonwood tree, establishing rules for trading among themselves. That organization later developed into the New York Stock Exchange, although the modern exchange emerged through later institutional changes.