The financial panic that began in New York in October 1907 after a failed United Copper scheme was the Panic of 1907.
Speculators F. Augustus Heinze and Charles W. Morse were associated with an attempt to corner the stock of United Copper Company. When the plan failed, depositors and investors lost confidence in banks connected with the speculators, triggering withdrawals and a wider financial panic.
The crisis spread because the United States lacked a central bank capable of quickly supplying emergency liquidity. J. P. Morgan helped organize private support for threatened institutions and worked with other financiers to stabilize the banking system.
The Panic of 1907 helped build political support for monetary reform. The Federal Reserve System was eventually created in 1913, giving the United States a central institution intended to reduce the danger of similar banking crises.