The 1873 financial panic helped trigger a long global depression and railway-market collapse.
The crisis began in Vienna in May 1873 and spread to other financial centers. In the United States, the failure of the banking firm Jay Cooke & Company in September caused the New York Stock Exchange to close temporarily. Railway speculation and heavy borrowing had left banks and investors vulnerable when confidence weakened.
The resulting downturn is often called the Long Depression. Its length and geographic reach varied by country, and historians debate how it compares with later depressions. In the United States, falling prices, bankruptcies, unemployment, and labor unrest persisted for years.
The panic also affected monetary debates. The United States was operating under a post-Civil War financial system, while international economies were increasingly linked through trade, railways, and capital flows. It is sometimes confused with the Panic of 1893, another severe American crisis caused by different immediate pressures.