The U.S. financial crisis and stock-market crash that began in 1893 after major railroad failures was the Panic of 1893.
The crisis intensified when the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and other rail companies failed, undermining confidence in heavily leveraged railway investments. A run on banks followed, and businesses across the United States struggled to obtain credit.
The panic contributed to a severe depression that lasted through much of the 1890s. Unemployment rose, thousands of businesses and banks failed, and the United States experienced major social and political unrest.
The Panic of 1893 is sometimes confused with the Panic of 1873, another crisis linked partly to railway speculation. The later panic also became a major issue in the 1896 presidential election, especially in arguments over monetary policy and silver.