The U.S. stock-market panic of September 24, 1869, involving gold speculation was known as Black Friday.
Financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the U.S. gold market by buying gold and trying to keep the government from selling it. Their plan pushed gold prices sharply higher while affecting stocks and commodity markets. When the U.S. Treasury intervened and sold gold, prices collapsed.
The crisis reached its peak on Friday, September 24, 1869. The resulting turmoil ruined or damaged many speculators and disrupted businesses, although the broader economic effects were less severe than those of later American crashes.
This Black Friday is unrelated to the modern shopping day after U.S. Thanksgiving. It is also distinct from the Black Friday associated with the British gold crisis of 1866. The 1869 panic illustrates how attempts to manipulate a single financial market could destabilize confidence across Wall Street.