The 1893 United States crisis was the Panic of 1893. A major early shock came when the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad declared bankruptcy in February 1893, adding to fears about overextended railway finance.
The panic was also connected to falling confidence in the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which required the federal government to buy large quantities of silver. Investors worried that the government’s gold reserves could become inadequate, so many exchanged paper currency for gold.
More than 500 banks and thousands of businesses and railroads failed during the depression that followed. Unemployment rose sharply, although precise national estimates vary because the United States did not yet collect modern labor statistics.
The crisis became a major political issue in the 1896 presidential campaign. William Jennings Bryan supported free silver, while William McKinley defended a platform centered on maintaining the gold standard. The panic is distinct from the later Panic of 1907 and the 1929 crash.