The U.S. financial panic often considered the country’s first major stock-market crash was the Panic of 1792.
The panic developed in March and April 1792 after rapid speculation in securities issued by the new United States government. William Duer and Alexander Macomb borrowed heavily to speculate, while investors also traded shares connected with the Bank of the United States and other financial institutions.
As credit tightened and prices fell, panic selling spread through financial markets in Philadelphia and New York. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton responded by supporting government securities and arranging measures to restore confidence. His intervention helped stabilize the young republic’s financial system.
The Panic of 1792 is sometimes confused with later crises such as the Panics of 1819 and 1837. It happened only a few years after the U.S. Constitution took effect and exposed the fragility of America’s early securities markets.