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Panic of 1785

The panic of 1785, which lasted until 1788, ended the business boom that followed the American Revolution. The causes of the crisis lay in the overexpansion and debts incurred after the victory at Yorktown, a postwar deflation, competition in the manufacturing sector from Britain, and lack of adequate credit and a sound currency. The downturn was exacerbated by the absence of any significant interstate trade.

Panic of 1792

The panic of 1792 arose from speculative activity following the adoption of the Federal Constitution, the founding of the First Bank of the United States (BUS), and the emergence of securities markets for bank shares and other government securities in New York City. Panic of 1819


Panic of 1837

A series of events led to the panic of 1837: On 11 July 1836, President Andrew Jackson issued an executive order (the Specie Circular) that attempted to end speculation in western lands by requiring specie for their purchase; the Deposit Act, passed on 23 June 1836, ordered that the more than $34 million in surplus that had accumulated in the Treasury be redistributed to the states, in proportion to their relative populations; the Second Bank of the United States dissolved following Jackson's veto of an act to recharter in 1832; and England introduced a tightened monetary policy designed to "recover" specie presumed lost to the United States.

Panic of 1857

The failure of the Ohio Life Insurance Company in August 1857 was the catalyst that initiated the panic of 1857, which spread quickly from the Ohio Valley to the eastern money centers. Unemployment grew, breadlines formed, and ominous signs of social unrest appeared. The depression was most serious in the industrial northeast and in the western wheat belt, where the new Republican Party saw increasing support.

Panic of 1873

The failure of several important eastern firms in September 1873—including the New York Warehouse and Securities Company; Kenyon, Cox and Company; and the famous banking house, Jay Cooke and Company—precipitated this panic.

Panic of 1893

The panic of 1893 originated in the usual factors of the business cycle, including overinvestment and falling prices in the 1880s.

Panic of 1907

Sometimes called the "rich man's panic," the panic of 1907 was preceded by speculative excesses in life insurance, railroad and coastal shipping combines, mining stocks, and inadequately regulated trust companies.

Panic of 1929

The panic of 1929 had many causes, most importantly annual private and corporate savings in excess of the demand for real capital formation, a large export trade in manufactured goods supported by foreign lending, a low discount Federal Reserve policy designed to support the British pound, and increasing use of stock-exchange securities rather than commercial paper for bank loans.