The U.S. financial panic that began in 1893 and helped produce a severe four-year economic depression was the Panic of 1893.
The crisis erupted after the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad failed in February 1893 and intensified when the National Cordage Company collapsed in May. Concerns about railroad financing, silver policy, and the adequacy of the nation’s gold reserves then spread through banks and businesses.
More than 500 banks and roughly 15,000 businesses failed during the depression that followed, according to historical estimates. Unemployment rose sharply, and railroad failures became a prominent feature of the downturn. The crisis affected the United States especially severely, while financial stress also crossed the Atlantic.
The panic is sometimes confused with the Panic of 1873 or the Panic of 1907. Grover Cleveland’s administration sought to restore confidence partly through legislation ending the federal government’s purchase of silver under the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.