The 1792 U.S. financial panic was the Panic of 1792.
The crisis followed rapid speculation in securities tied to the new United States government. William Duer and Alexander Macomb borrowed heavily to buy government debt, while other speculators attempted to manipulate prices. When confidence weakened, borrowers could not meet their obligations, creating pressure on banks and securities markets.
Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton responded by authorizing purchases of government securities and encouraging banks to provide liquidity. His intervention helped stabilize prices and limited the panic’s spread. The episode demonstrated how closely the young republic’s credit system depended on confidence in federal debt.
The Panic of 1792 is sometimes confused with later nineteenth-century panics, but it occurred only a few years after the U.S. Constitution took effect. It was an early test of Hamilton’s financial system and one of the first major securities-market crises in the United States.