The 1907 U.S. market panic that led to J.P. Morgan’s rescue efforts was the Panic of 1907.
The crisis began in October 1907 after an unsuccessful attempt to corner the stock of United Copper Company. When the scheme failed, depositors rushed to withdraw money from banks and trust companies connected to the speculators. The Knickerbocker Trust Company, then New York’s third-largest trust, suspended operations on October 22.
J.P. Morgan organized private-sector support, persuaded banks to provide emergency funds, and helped stabilize the financial system. The New York Stock Exchange also suffered a sharp decline, while the panic spread beyond New York through withdrawals and loss of confidence.
The panic exposed weaknesses in the U.S. banking system, especially the absence of a central bank able to provide emergency liquidity. Its aftermath helped inspire the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913. It is sometimes confused with the Panic of 1893, another severe American financial crisis, but the two occurred in different decades and had different immediate triggers.