The Panic of 1907 helped inspire the creation of the United States Federal Reserve.
The panic began after a failed attempt to corner the stock of United Copper Company triggered bank runs and a loss of confidence. Several trust companies in New York faced withdrawals, and the crisis spread through financial markets as institutions struggled to obtain cash.
With no American central bank able to act as a lender of last resort, financier J. P. Morgan organized private support and helped coordinate emergency measures. The episode exposed the fragility of relying on individual bankers during a nationwide liquidity crisis.
The Aldrich–Vreeland Act of 1908 created an emergency currency system and established the National Monetary Commission. Its work helped lead to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. The Federal Reserve was therefore created several years after the panic, not during it, and the panic was an important catalyst rather than the sole cause.