The Panic of 1837 was the United States financial panic that followed years of speculation and helped produce a severe economic depression.
The crisis began in May 1837, when New York banks stopped converting paper money into gold and silver. Land speculation, unstable banking practices, falling cotton prices, and President Andrew Jackson’s financial policies had created vulnerabilities. The collapse spread through the United States, bringing bank failures, business bankruptcies, unemployment, and falling prices.
The resulting depression lasted until the middle of the 1840s, though its timing and intensity varied across regions. The crisis also damaged the political fortunes of President Martin Van Buren, who had taken office shortly before the panic. His proposed Independent Treasury system was partly a response to the turmoil.
The Panic of 1837 is sometimes confused with the Panic of 1819 or the later Panic of 1857. Those were separate American financial crises, each with different immediate triggers and economic settings.