The U.S. financial panic that began in 1792 after speculation involving Alexander Macomb and the Bank of the United States was the Panic of 1792.
Alexander Macomb, a prominent merchant, borrowed heavily to speculate in government securities and western land. When his financing collapsed, concern spread through the young American financial system. William Duer, a former government official, and other speculators had also taken large positions using borrowed funds.
The panic reached New York in March and April 1792. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton responded by arranging government purchases of securities and encouraging banks to extend credit. His measures helped restore confidence and are often viewed as an early example of a central-government response to a financial crisis in the United States.
The Panic of 1792 predates the later U.S. panics of 1819, 1837, and 1857. It occurred only a few years after the Constitution took effect and exposed the fragility of the new republic’s financial markets.