High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Panic of 1796–1797 was a series of downturns in Atlantic credit markets that led to broader commercial downturns in both Britain and the United States. In the U.S., problems first emerged when the Bubble of land speculation burst in 1796. The crisis deepened into a broader depression when the Bank of England suspended specie payments on February 25, 1797 under the Bank Restriction Act 1797. The Bank`s directors feared insolvency when English account holders, who were nervous about a possible French invasion, began withdrawing their deposits. In combination with the unfolding collapse of the U.S. real estate market, the Bank of England`s action had developing disflationary repercussions in the financial and commercial markets of the coastal United States and the Caribbean through the turn of the century.