The Bank War Essay Thesis

Jackson escalated this so-called "Bank War" in 1833 when he removed federal government funds that were on deposit with the BUS and distributed them to loyal state banks. That’s not right of him to do that, in my opinion it doesn’t matter if he’s president or not. It posed as a threat to him and he feared for his own power. Jackson did not even like paper money anyways. He preferred to use coins instead, so putting him on money he wouldn’t even approve of us using is idiotic.

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

Another reason why Andrew Jackson’s presidency was different was because of his attack on the Bank of the United States. In 1832, Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill to recharter the bank. Jackson believed the bank had an unfair advantage over the other banks. The national bank would get all the federal tax revenues instead of the state or private banks. Also the bank’s president, Nicholas Biddle would extend loans to the men in the congress at lower rates of interest than he would do to regular people. Because Jackson thought the bank was unjust he took away its federal charter and the bank became a state bank. Jackson appointed a secretary of treasury after his reelection in 1832. The secretary of treasury placed all government funds in certain state banks, otherwise known as the pet banks. The national bank became the Philadelphia bank for a while until it went out of business.

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

Andrew Jackson wrote a letter to Congress on July 10, 1832, saying the “rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes" (Doc. F). Jackson is talking about the national bank in this letter to Congress and it was very well known from his close friends that he had “always been afraid of banks... [and called bankers} ‘“vipers and thieves’” (Shi, Tindall, 324). He thought that the national bank caused the government to have too much control over the people, but the way

He received Andrew Jackson's (related to managing money) policies, which added/gave to what came to be known as the Panic of 1837. It turned out to be the worst money-based depression that the young nation had yet known. Do Andrew Jackson, whom Van Buren had served as secretary of state, vice president, and close person (who gives opinions about what could or should be done about things), hurt the federal Second Bank of the United States by moving federal money to smaller state banks. Jackson thought the Bank of the United States hurt ordinary people (who lawfully live in a country, state, etc.) by exercising too much control over credit and money-based opportunity, and he succeeded in shutting it down.

President Jackson acted undemocratically because of his actions against the national bank. On July 10th, 1832, Jackson sent a bank veto message to congress. The message was sent to remove the US National Bank because it was only helpful for a wealthier class for things like investments. Citizens from wealthier classes were outraged by Jackson’s actions. Former senator Daniel Webster replied to Jackson message saying, “It manifestly seeks to

Although Jackson was a hard money supporter, he was sensitive to his many soft money supporters, and made it clear that he would object to renewing the charter of the Bank of the United States, which was due to expire in 1836. When Jackson could not legally abolish the Bank of the United States before the expiration of its charter, he weakened it by removing the government’s deposits from the bank. Jackson fired two of his secretary of treasury when they refused to carry out the order because they believed that such an action would destabilize the financial system. Jackson got Roger Taney to carry out his order. Taney took the deposits out of the Bank of the

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.

Andrew Jackson, whose presidential term lasted from 1829-1837, was the first president to ever be chosen by the people to lead. Because he was not born into a rich family, people felt that they could relate to him better. He too preferred supporting the common public over the wealthy aristocrats. During Jackson’s period in office he was able to shift the majority of power in the United States to farmers and small businesses in the western part of the country. Jackson vetoed many bills in order to benefit common people and also created the spoils system to balance out his cabinet. Like Jefferson, Jackson was extremely opposed to the Bank of the U.S., believing that it would only make the wealthy even

Jackson resented banks because he was a man who came from a family of poor farmers who paid with goods and crops. He saw banks as only useful to the wealthy, so when Henry Clay proposed “The Bank Bill”, which was in favor of the recharter, Jackson vetoed it. Andrew Jackson only thought about himself, and people who were like him, poor farmers. In total, vetoed twelve bills during his presidency, which was more than all of the preceding presidents combined. Again, Jackson set his mind to do something, and it was done.

With the Jackson administration into office, the Second Bank of the United States became threatened. President Jackson had a private prejudice that wasn’t party policy (Schlesinger 74). He hated banks, all banks, but he especially hated the Second Bank of the United States. He viewed all bankers as “little more than parasites who preyed upon the poor and honest working people of America” (Roughshod 2). The reason for his hatred most likely stemmed from his near ruin as a businessman (land speculator, merchant, and slaver trader) when in the 1790s he accepted some bank notes that turned out to be worthless. From then on, he never trusted anything but hard money, or specie (Roughshod 2).

Through many perspectives the conflict began between Jackson attacking the federal bank and those supporting it. Previous to this issues rise in intensity, Clay, Webster, and other advisors pushed Biddle to apply to Congress in 1832 for a bill to renew the bank charter. Jackson vetoed the Bank Bill of 1832 and had made it clear that he was not going to renew the bank's charter when it was expected to expire in 1836. Jackson included the reasons why he was against the bank in his veto message and among those reasons was the fact that the bank only served the financial elite. Yet Jackson's political opponents used the veto of the bill as the platform to run against Jackson in the upcoming presidential elections. In the end, however, Jackson came out semi-victorious as the bank had been shut down in 1836 but the country suffered as a result. The death of the bank led to the Panic of 1837 during which time profits, prices, and wages went down and unemployment went up. Jackson's destruction of the Bank of the United States had a profound and lasting impact on the

According to the textbook, “For years, he had attacked the Bank of the United States as being an organization of wealthy Easterners over which ordinary citizens had no control.” (Appleby, 2000). Jackson is a self-made man, or a man who built himself up and was not born into riches. Therefore, he destroyed the bank because he felt it was a group of rich people who don’t care about the ordinary citizen. Jackson only cares about himself and his own “people”, the poor.

Meaning that until this day that historian cannot draw any ideas or fact of what Jackson brought to the table. Historians cannot figure out what impact did Jackson bring to the nation during the eight years he has been a president. For that reason, William J. Duane wrote the “Removal of the Deposits.” Which was about Duane, Jackson’s Treasury secretary refused to withdraw government deposits from the Bank of the US and was dismissed from the Cabinet. Therefore, from the things that Jackson do revolve around the Bank of the United States and money. Jackson would go as far as to execute massive groups of people to get his way and money. Jackson would also break the law to get his way. Whether it was unlawfully pronouncing military law in New Orleans, attacking Spanish Florida and executing English nationals, expelling government stores from the Bank of the United States, or scrutinizing the Incomparable Court's power in Worcester v. Georgia. However, Jackson did not show any interest in what the people wanted in the