The Panic of 1792 was triggered partly by speculation and William Duer's attempted market corner.
William Duer, a former U.S. Treasury official, borrowed heavily to speculate in government securities and bank shares. When he could not meet his obligations, his default helped set off a credit contraction and a wave of selling in New York and Philadelphia.
The young United States had only recently created the Bank of the United States, and financial markets were still small and closely connected. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton responded with measures to support public securities and provide liquidity, helping restore confidence by late spring.
The panic is an early example of a U.S. financial crisis rather than a modern exchange crash. It is distinct from the Panic of 1907, which later helped inspire the creation of the Federal Reserve System. The 1792 episode also exposed risks created by leverage and concentrated speculation.