The New York Stock Exchange collapse in 1792 is widely regarded as the first major U.S. financial panic and is called the Panic of 1792.
The episode grew from speculation in securities issued by the newly formed United States government and from aggressive trading by financier William Duer and others. When Duer could not meet his obligations, confidence weakened and prices fell. Runs and payment problems threatened banks and merchants in New York and Philadelphia.
Alexander Hamilton, the U.S. Treasury secretary, responded by arranging government purchases of securities and supplying liquidity through Treasury measures. His intervention helped stabilize financial markets and established an early example of federal crisis management.
The Panic of 1792 predates the formal founding of the New York Stock Exchange in 1817, so descriptions often refer more broadly to New York’s securities market rather than the later institution itself. That distinction prevents confusion about the event’s setting.