Essay On Jacksonian Era

The Bank war started in 1832 when the congress, lead by Henry Clay, renewed the Second National Bank's charter even though it wasn't meant to expire till 1836. The Second Bank centralized financial might, jeopardizing economic stability, and it did not answer to anyone within the government. That partly concerned Jackson because he had no way to control it. Also because of his previous election experiences, he thought that a bank with that much power could not remain free from the electoral process. That was one of his reasons for wanting the bank gone, the other was that he saw the national bank system as corrupt and unjust because it only benefited the elites and was suspected to favor the wealthy. Jackson knew that if the bank was not shut down the gap between the rich and poor would keep growing, resulting in an unstable economy. By vetoing the bank’s charter, withdrawing the federal government's deposits from the Bank of the United States, and placing it in state banks called pet banks he was helping then general people and working for the good of the nation. Taking out money from the Second National Bank was a clever way to get what he wanted, but he was simply looking out for the common man. Because the bank only helped the wealthy, a small percentage of the population, he was taking care of the general people and not letting the priority fall to a minority who was

Also, the Democratic Party allowed for a more representative government and indicated a shift in power to the West to farmers, shopkeepers, and small-business owners who supported Jackson (Hart et al 260). Jacksonian democracy―the idea that common people should control the government―was also a result of the creation of the Democratic Party. Andrew Jackson’s decision to abolish the bank of the United States benefitted and changed the U.S. Jackson believed that the national bank was to the benefit of the rich, at the expense of farmers, workers, and smaller state banks (Hart et al 263). The bank also did not provide an opportunity for capitalists in the West and other regions (Hart et al 263). In 1832, Henry Clay pushed a bill through Congress to recharter the bank four years earlier than its expiration in 1836. Jackson vetoed the bill, claiming that the bank was an unconstitutional monopoly that existed to make the rich richer (Hart et al 263). Jackson

Even his Farewell Address alluded to the bank as “an insidious "money power" that threatened to subvert American liberty” (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History). Jackson’s war on the bank had devastating effects on America’s economy that eventually led to the Panic of 1837 and a financial depression that continued until the mid-1840s. Jackson’s war on the bank also included attacks on chartered corporations, which hurt those companies and their workers (Miller Center). Andrew Jackson was also known for being highly against the usage of paper currency, even going as far as to “order the issuance of a ‘Specie Circular’ in 1836 requiring payment in coin for western public lands” (Miller Center). Why would we want to honor Andrew Jackson on a currency he openly

In 1828, otherwise known as “The Age of Jackson”, America was a country on its way to the West. America’s revolutionary generation was quickly fading, making room for a new balance of political power. As the class systems were breaking down, the “common man” was better able to cast his vote for the new President. Jackson was glorified by his impressive war accomplishments and humble background of the frontier. This made him the main target for presidency in election 1824. Once coming to power, Jackson no longer portrayed humble beginnings, but became a conundrum to the people he was leading by removing indians from their homeland and forcing them West. His use of power can be debated based on the state of the country thereafter. Although Andrew Jackson was dubbed “The People 's President”, his time in office reflected a very different outcome.

Andrew Jackson won the presidential election in 1828 to the horror of Thomas Jefferson, who said, “He is one of the most unfit men I know” (George Brown Tindall 431). Jackson was a very popular general who marched to the tune of his own drum (George Brown Tindall 443). “I was born for a storm,’ the fearless Jackson boasted; ‘a calm dose not suit me” (George Brown Tindall 442). His two terms in office was called the age of the common man. However, the Jacksonian democracy was actually the era of growing economic and social inequality. The growing gap between the wealthy and the poor and open racial behavior are two points that demonstrate how the age of the common man became instead the age of inequality. “While men of moderate means could sometimes turn an inheritance into a fortune by good management and prudent speculation, those who started out poor seldom made it to the top” (George Brown Tindall 407). Jackson often spoke of equal opportunities for all Americans, yet the growing gap between the poor and the wealthy was never resolved.

The Bank Recharter Bill of 1832 was a bill designed to renew the corporate charter of the Second Bank of the United States. Although Congress passed the bill, Andrew Jackson vetoed it a week later. President Andrew Jackson opposed the Second Bank of the United States because he believed that it held too much power without accountability and that it was unconstitutional.The bank was heavily biased toward business interests and had no congressional oversight. This bias led the bank to not support western expansion, which Jackson favored. Jackson also felt that the bank was too powerful, both politically and economically.

Jacksonian Democracy created unity between all citizens. Prior to the Jacksonian era, the government was viewed as something that was mainly for the wealthy, and oppressed the common man. George Henry Evans, the editor of a pro-labor newspaper, argued that the working class has unalienable rights just as another other class. But the working class should only have to deal with a certain degree of economic oppression before the government should step in to reform the abuse (Document 1). Jackson was a symbol of the common man, and therefore made the self-made man the hero of his presidency. People looked up to self-made

Jackson’s reelection convinced him that his opposition to the bank won all of the national support. The Second Bank was established in 1816, as a success from the First Bank of the United States, whose charter was permitted to expire in 1811. The name “The Bank War” was given to the campaign, started by President Andrew Jackson in 1833, to destroy the Second Bank of the United States, this was the start to a very hateful Bank War.

The bank provided credit to growing enterprises, issued bank notes which served as a dependable medium of exchange throughout the country, and it exercised a restraining effect on the less well manages state banks. Nicholas Biddle, who ran the Bank, tried to put the institution on a sound and prosperous basis. But Andrew Jackson was always determined to destroy it (Brinkley, 249). The Bank had two opposition groups: the “soft-money” faction and the “hard-money” faction. Soft money advocates objected to the Bank of the United States because it restrained the state banks from issuing notes freely. Hard money advocates believed that coin was the only safe currency, and they condemned all banks that issued bank notes.

Nicholas Biddle proved great opposition to President Jackson. He wanted to re-charter the National Bank; however, many people were against Biddle’s decision. This was particularly true of people in the west. They were still wary of a national bank, after the Panic of 1819, which involved mishaps in land speculation. Jackson shared the predominately western opinion that several small banks would be a better service to the nation than one, large bank would. A major problem with a national bank would lie in it’s willingness only to make loans to the wealthy. This would be of no use to the middleclass. Jackson would not allow Biddle to gain any more power than he already had.

The validity of President Andrew Jackson’s response to the Bank War issue has been contradicted by many, but his reasoning was supported by fact and inevitably beneficial to the country. Jackson’s primary involvement with the Second Bank of the United States arose during the suggested governmental re-chartering of the institution. It was during this period that the necessity and value of the Bank’s services were questioned.

No man at any point had so intense an effect on the psyches and spirits of his peers as did Andrew Jackson. No other man at any point ruled an age traversing such a variety of decades. Nobody, not Washington, Jefferson, of Franklin, at any point, held the American individuals in such aggregate accommodation.

The Bank of the United States was technically the second bank of the U.S. since the first bank’s charter ended in 1811. The second bank held a monopoly over federal deposits, provided credit to growing enterprises, issued banknotes that served as a dependable medium of exchange, and used a restraining effect on the less well-managed state banks. Jackson didn’t trust the bank and thought it had too much power, so Jackson sought out to destroy it. There were two different groups when it came to opposition, “soft-money” and “hard-money”. Soft money supporters were progressive, they believed in economic growth and bank speculation. They supported the use of paper money and were mainly made up of bankers and allies to bankers. Hard money supporters were against expansion and bank speculation. They supported coinage only and rejected all banks that used paper money, which included the federal bank. Jackson was a hard money supporter although, he felt sympathy to the soft money supporters. Jackson could not legally end the bank before its charter expired. By removing the

To summarize this document, it was discussing about the life of the people in America during the year of 1830. Regarding the numerous population of people helping the U.S. by making it big, among the twenty-five states President Andrew Jackson, also known as the “Great Commoner” was running during his term. The land of the United States of America was designed with uncontrolled, pride, and a guaranteed promise that the future would be better than it was back in the year of 1830. Also before America was born, the revolution that helped created this land ended forty-seven, and it transitioned from the War of 1812, which was named “the Second War of Independence”.

The United States of America has gone through huge transformation and historical events that has now given freedom and independence throughout. The freedom has been given through war and key decisions made that have eventually won its independence and created the United States of America from East to West. Andrew Jackson was the president in the early 1800’s that made a considerable amount of change. Theses changes and action that he was involved in changed America forever, in which gave him the respect from the people of America. He was a symbol for his age, becoming a true historical figure and a hero for the people. He defeated the British and expanded America to unifying and create nationalism for the common people of America. This essay will discuss the ways in which Andrew Jackson is depicted as a symbol of the age, in that he was the age. The events and action that took place to give the seventh president power and unify a nation and its own identity in the world.