The U.S. financial crisis of 1819 was called the Panic of 1819.
The panic followed the economic expansion that came after the War of 1812. Land prices and bank lending rose rapidly, while banks issued large quantities of paper money. When commodity prices fell after the Napoleonic Wars, borrowers struggled to repay loans and banks began demanding payment in specie, meaning gold or silver.
The Second Bank of the United States helped tighten credit by calling in loans. Land prices collapsed, businesses failed, and unemployment increased. Many state-chartered banks suspended specie payments, and debtors faced foreclosure on farms and property.
The Panic of 1819 is often described as the first major financial crisis in the United States during peacetime. It is sometimes confused with the Panic of 1837, which followed a separate credit boom and banking crisis nearly two decades later. The downturn also helped fuel political opposition to the Second Bank of the United States.