The Panic of 1792 is widely regarded as the first major U.S. stock-market crash.
Speculation in securities issued by the new federal government and the Bank of the United States helped drive prices upward. Alexander Macomb and other speculators used borrowed money, while financier William Duer's defaults intensified pressure on lenders and markets.
In March 1792, tightening credit and failed speculative positions caused sharp declines in government securities and bank shares. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton responded by arranging government purchases and encouraging banks to provide liquidity, an early example of financial-market stabilization.
The panic was brief compared with later crashes, but it established patterns familiar today: leverage, contagious selling, and emergency intervention. It also showed how closely the young republic's financial system was tied to confidence in government debt.