The Panic of 1873 was the market crash that helped trigger the long downturn known as the Long Depression.
The panic began in Europe and the United States after speculative railroad investment and financial overexpansion. In the United States, the failure of Jay Cooke & Company in September 1873 severely damaged confidence because the firm had helped finance the Northern Pacific Railway.
The New York Stock Exchange closed for ten days, an extraordinary interruption that reflected the strain on the financial system. Bank failures and falling investment spread the shock through the economy, while railroad companies faced major difficulties.
Historians debate the exact dates and severity of the Long Depression, and some countries experienced different patterns. The downturn is often called the Great Depression of the nineteenth century, but it should not be confused with the 1930s Great Depression.