The international financial crisis that began in the United States in 1857 was the Panic of 1857. It was one of the first major economic crises to spread rapidly through the emerging global financial system.
A key trigger was the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company in August 1857. The collapse exposed problems involving railroad speculation, land prices, and credit. The failure of the SS Central America, which was carrying gold from California, further damaged confidence and tightened liquidity.
The panic reached banks and businesses in Europe and other regions through trade and financial links. It is sometimes mixed up with the Panic of 1837 or the Long Depression that followed 1873, but those were separate crises. The Panic of 1857 also contributed to economic pressures in the United States before the Civil War.