The 1893 US financial crisis associated with the failure of the Reading Railroad was called the Panic of 1893.
The crisis followed years of railroad expansion, heavy borrowing, and intense speculation. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad entered receivership in February 1893, damaging confidence in railroad securities. The collapse of the National Cordage Company and concerns about the United States' gold reserves added to the pressure.
Banks and businesses failed, unemployment rose, and investment contracted. The US Treasury's declining gold holdings became a central concern because the country was operating under a gold standard. President Grover Cleveland eventually arranged a private bond sale led by J. P. Morgan to replenish the Treasury's reserves.
The Panic of 1893 produced one of the most severe depressions in nineteenth-century America. It also intensified political arguments over gold and silver, helping make monetary policy a central issue in the 1896 presidential election.