The 1893 U.S. financial panic followed railroad failures and the collapse of the Reading Railroad.
Railroads had expanded rapidly with borrowed money, and many companies could not earn enough to service their debts. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad entered receivership in February 1893, helping undermine confidence. Other railroad failures followed, while banks faced withdrawals and pressure on their reserves.
The panic contributed to a severe depression in the United States. Unemployment rose, businesses failed, and the crisis intensified political arguments over currency, gold reserves, and silver coinage. President Grover Cleveland supported policies to protect the Treasury’s gold position, a decision that remained controversial.
This episode is distinct from the Panic of 1873, another railroad-centered crisis, and from the Panic of 1907, which helped lead to the Federal Reserve. The 1893 panic also occurred before modern federal deposit insurance.