The 1792 financial panic was the Panic of 1792, an early crisis in the newly established United States.
The panic developed in March and April 1792 after aggressive speculation in government securities and bank shares. William Duer and other speculators borrowed heavily to buy securities, then struggled to repay loans when prices weakened. Their defaults spread pressure through New York and Philadelphia financial markets.
Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton responded by using federal funds to buy government securities and by encouraging banks to provide liquidity. His intervention helped restore confidence and is often described as one of the first major U.S. central-government responses to a financial crisis.
The Panic of 1792 is sometimes confused with later U.S. panics, especially the Panic of 1819. It occurred only a few years after the Constitution took effect and before the New York Stock Exchange’s formal organization in 1817.