The Panic of 1819
The Panic of 1819 was the first major financial crisis in the United States, after the depression of the late 1780s (which led directly to the establishment of the dollar and, perhaps indirectly, to the calls for a Constitutional Convention).[1] It resulted in widespread foreclosures, bank failures, unemployment, and a slump in agriculture and manufacturing. It marked the end of the economic expansion that had followed the War of 1812. However, things would change for the US economy after the Second Bank of the United States was founded in 1816,[2] in response to the flood spread of bank notes across United States from private banks, due to inflation brought on by the debt following the war.
The Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a panic in the United States built on a speculative fever. The bubble burst on May 10, 1837 in New York City, when every bank stopped payment in specie (gold and silver coinage). The Panic was followed by a five-year depression, with the failure of banks and record high unemployment levels.
The Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a sudden downturn in the economy of the United States that occurred in 1857. A general recession first emerged late in 1856, but the successive failure of banks and businesses that characterized the panic began in mid-1857. As the overall economic downturn was brief, and the recovery strong, lasting impact was limited. However, more than 5,000 American businesses failed within a year, and unemployment was accompanied by protest meetings in urban areas. Eventually the panic and depression spread to Europe, South America and the Far East. No recovery was evident in the United States for a year and a half, and the full impact did not dissipate until the American Civil War.
The Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a severe nationwide economic depression in the United States that lasted until 1877. It was precipitated by the bankruptcy of the Philadelphia banking firm Jay Cooke and Company on September 18, 1873 along with the meltdown on May 9, 1873 of the Vienna Stock Exchange in Austria (the so-called Grunderkrach or “founders' crash”). It was one of a series of economic crises in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. This panic was an extension of the Panic of 1873, and like that earlier crash, was caused by railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures. Compounding market overbuilding and a railroad bubble was a run on the gold supply and a policy of using both gold and silver metals as a peg for the US Dollar value. The Panic of 1893 was the worst economic crisis to hit the nation in its history to that point. To put this event in context, the period of economic crises known as the Long Depression (1873-1896) was worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The Panic of 1901
The Panic of 1901 was a stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange caused in part by struggles between E. H. Harriman, Jacob Schiff, and J. P. Morgan/James J. Hill for the financial control of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The stock cornering was orchestrated by James Stillman and William Rockefeller's First National City Bank financed with Standard Oil money. After reaching a compromise, the moguls formed the Northern Securities Company. As a result of the panic thousands of small investors were ruined.
The Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic, was a financial crisis in the United States. The stock market fell nearly 50% from its peak in 1906, the economy was in recession, and there were numerous runs on banks and trust companies. Its primary cause was a retraction of loans by some banks that began in New York City and soon spread across the nation, leading to the closings of banks and businesses. The 1907 panic was the fourth panic in 34 years.
The panic was sparked after an attempt to corner the market in a copper company collapsed in October. The failure of the corner prompted runs on banks that had loaned money for the scheme. This spread to affiliated banks and trusts, leading to the downfall of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, New York's third largest trust company, a week later. From Knickerbocker, the contagion spread throughout New York City trusts and then across the country, as regional banks pulled deposits out of New York, and people everywhere pulled their deposits out of regional banks.
At the time the United States had no central bank to provide liquidity. The panic may have been worse if not for the intervention of New York's most famous banker J.P. Morgan, who convinced other bankers in the city to provide a backstop for the crisis. By November the contagion stopped, and the next year, Senator Nelson W. Aldrich became chairman of a commission to investigate the panic and propose future solutions. The commission reports led directly to the creation of the Federal Reserve System.
