The 1819 U.S. financial crisis was called the Panic of 1819.
The crisis followed a sharp postwar economic contraction after the War of 1812. Expanding banks had issued large amounts of paper money and credit, while land speculation accelerated. When cotton and other commodity prices fell, banks tightened lending and demanded repayment.
The Second Bank of the United States helped contract credit, and many state banks failed. Land prices collapsed, businesses closed, and unemployment rose. Debtors who had purchased public land on credit were especially vulnerable to foreclosure.
The Panic of 1819 is often described as the first major financial crisis in the United States during peacetime. It is sometimes confused with later panics, especially the Panic of 1837, which was also connected to banking, land speculation, and falling commodity prices.