The 1893 U.S. financial crisis that followed the collapse of railroad speculation was the Panic of 1893.
The crisis began when the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad failed in February 1893, followed by the collapse of the National Cordage Company in May. Investors became increasingly concerned about railroad finances, silver policy, and the country’s gold reserves.
More than 500 banks and about 15,000 businesses failed during the depression that followed, according to commonly cited historical estimates. Unemployment rose sharply, and labor conflict included the Pullman Strike of 1894.
The panic also intensified a political dispute over whether the United States should expand silver coinage. President Grover Cleveland supported repealing the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, while William Jennings Bryan and other free-silver advocates opposed that policy.