The 1837 U.S. financial crash was called the Panic of 1837.
The crisis began in May 1837 when banks in New York City suspended payments in gold and silver. Several forces had weakened the economy, including speculative lending, falling cotton prices, land speculation, and disputes over the federal government’s banking and monetary policies.
The panic produced a severe depression. Banks failed, businesses closed, unemployment rose, and prices declined. The downturn lasted for years, although the depth and timing varied by region. President Martin Van Buren’s administration faced the crisis and established the Independent Treasury system in response.
The Panic of 1837 is not the same as the Panic of 1819, which followed the postwar boom after the War of 1812, or the Panic of 1857, which involved railroad speculation and the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company. Those events were separate U.S. financial crises.