The U.S. financial crisis that began in 1819 after a postwar credit boom collapsed was the Panic of 1819.
The crisis followed the economic expansion that came after the War of 1812. Banks had issued abundant credit, land prices rose, and many people borrowed to buy frontier property. When commodity prices fell and banks tightened lending, borrowers struggled to repay loans.
The Second Bank of the United States restrained credit and demanded repayment from state-chartered banks. Bank failures, falling land prices, business closures, and widespread unemployment followed. The downturn was the first major peacetime financial crisis in the United States.
The Panic of 1819 is distinct from the Panic of 1837, which occurred nearly two decades later. Its social effects were especially severe for farmers, merchants, and settlers who had relied on easy credit and rising land values.