New York City was the main center of the Panic of 1907, a financial crisis that led to calls for a central bank.
The panic began after a failed attempt to corner the shares of United Copper Company. The failure damaged confidence in associated banks and trust companies, prompting withdrawals and a run on the Knickerbocker Trust Company in New York.
J. Pierpont Morgan helped organize private emergency support for banks and trust companies, while New York’s financial institutions struggled to provide liquidity. The crisis showed how dependent the United States was on private financiers because it had no modern central bank at the time.
The Federal Reserve System was created in 1913, partly in response to lessons from the panic. Although the crisis affected the wider United States, New York City remained its key financial and institutional center.