Which U.S. financial panic began after the 1907 Knickerbocker Trust failure?

The U.S. financial panic that began after the 1907 Knickerbocker Trust failure was the Panic of 1907. The New York trust company became central to the crisis after a failed attempt to corner the stock of United Copper Company undermined confidence in its management.

Depositors withdrew funds from Knickerbocker Trust, and fear spread to other banks and trust companies. Because the United States had no modern central bank at the time, private financiers played a major role in organizing emergency support. J. P. Morgan coordinated a rescue effort involving banks, trust companies, and the Treasury.

The panic caused sharp financial stress and a contraction in economic activity, although it did not become a prolonged depression on the scale of the 1930s. The crisis helped build support for a central banking system. The Federal Reserve was created in 1913, four years after the panic.