J. P. Morgan's rescue efforts helped contain the Panic of 1907 in the United States.
The panic began after a failed attempt to corner shares of United Copper Company triggered runs on trust companies connected to the speculators. Depositors withdrew funds, confidence deteriorated and the New York stock market suffered a severe decline.
J. P. Morgan, already one of America's most powerful financiers, organized private-sector support. He summoned bankers, examined institutions' books and helped direct emergency loans and commitments. His intervention was especially important because the United States had no central bank at the time to act as a lender of last resort.
The crisis exposed weaknesses in the financial system and strengthened arguments for creating a central bank. The Federal Reserve System was established in 1913. Morgan did not single-handedly solve every problem, and the Treasury also supplied funds, but his coordinated response became the defining feature of the panic. The episode illustrates how a stock-market crash can reveal deeper banking and institutional weaknesses.