The U.S. financial panic associated with the failure of the Second Bank of the United States in 1837 is called the Panic of 1837.
The crisis began during the presidency of Martin Van Buren after a period of speculative lending, land-price increases, and rapid expansion of state-chartered banks. The Second Bank of the United States, whose federal charter had been vetoed by Andrew Jackson, lost its national role and ultimately failed in 1841, deepening the financial instability.
A major immediate shock came when banks suspended the convertibility of paper money into specie in May 1837. Bank failures, falling land values, business bankruptcies, and high unemployment followed. The downturn lasted for years and affected the United States, Britain, and international credit markets.
The bank’s failure was important context, but it did not occur at the exact start of the panic. The crisis had multiple causes, including monetary policy, international capital movements, crop problems, and speculative excesses.