High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Panic of 1792 was a financial credit crisis that occurred during March and April of 1792 due to the speculation of William Duer and Alexander Macomb against stock held by the Bank of New York. While Duer attempted to drive the price of stocks up, the Livingston family attempted to drive the price of stocks down and in so doing caused a bank run. Macomb and Duer were ruined while the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton prevented a national crisis by providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in securities for the troubled banks. During the panic, securities lost 25% of their value in two weeks. However, soon after Hamilton intervened, the financial situation returned to normal.