The Panic of 1792 began after William Duer defaulted on speculative loans in the young United States financial market.
Duer, a prominent financier and former government official, borrowed heavily to speculate in securities. When he could not repay creditors, confidence weakened and a broader run developed. Alexander Macomb’s failure added to the pressure. The panic affected banks, brokers, and government securities markets centered in New York and Philadelphia.
Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton responded by arranging support for banks and purchasing government securities. His intervention helped restore liquidity and is often regarded as an early example of a central-government response to a financial panic in the United States. The episode also contributed to the development of more organized securities trading.
The Panic of 1792 predates the New York Stock Exchange’s formal organization in 1817. It is therefore better understood as an early securities and credit panic than as a modern exchange crash. Later American panics, including those of 1819 and 1837, had different causes and dates.