The 1857 financial panic widely considered the first worldwide economic crisis was the Panic of 1857.
The crisis began in the United States after the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company in August 1857 exposed weaknesses in the financial system. Railroad speculation, declining land values, and the collapse of confidence in banks and businesses intensified the downturn.
The panic spread beyond the United States through trade and financial connections. Britain, much of Europe, and parts of Latin America experienced related economic stress, which is why historians often describe it as the first genuinely global financial crisis.
The crash also affected the young Republican political movement and occurred shortly before the American Civil War. It is distinct from the Panic of 1837 and the Panic of 1873, although all three involved bank failures, speculation, and contractions in economic activity.