Business Insider -
9 May 2014 19:01

Panic of 1792—Wall Street’s First Crash In late 1791, a former Treasury Department assistant and later speculator and businessman William Duer conspired to corner U.S. securities. Duer and his co-conspirators borrowed heavily to do so. At the same time, the Bank of the United States opened in December 1791 and began making loans and issuing banknotes. So as Duer borrowed heavily to finance his securities purchases, and as the Bank expanded credit, the price of U.S. Sixes rose from 110 to 1...
Share this Article