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. The United States government in 1816 chartered the Second Bank of the United States. It had a 20-year charter, which was to expire in 1836. Despite this, the Bank was privately owned and during the age of Jackson, the president was Nicholas Biddle. The Bank was large in comparison to other banks, being responsible for 15-20% of bank loans in the United States and accounting for 40% of the bank notes in circulation. Also, the Bank held a specie reserve of 50% of the value of its notes, when normally other banks only had a specie reserve of 10-25% (Davis 1). In addition to the powerful coordination the Bank possessed, it influenced interest rates for loans to the working class and the rate of inflation in the nation. Because of the use of various bank notes, variegating from bank to bank due to the lack of national currency and mixture of specie, people trusted that each bank would be able to “cash in” their bank note for specie. This did not always hold true, but the Second Bank of the United States was the most trusted of the banks to supply specie in exchange for their bank notes. Because of this most people, in order to protect themselves from losing money, would exchange state bank notes for notes issued by the Second Bank. However, this meant that the Second Bank could threaten the state banks by demanding more gold, which might cause for their bankruptcy. As a result, the state banks were pressured into not being able to over issue their bank notes, which inevitably decreased their importance and power in the nation by decreasing the circulation of their bank notes. This was the greatest argument posed by the leaders of the state banks against the Second Bank of the United States (Roughshod 2). Despite the oncoming bankruptcy of the state banks, prior to Jackson’s administration the government did not show much support in their survival. In fact, the government played a large role in the functioning of the Second Ban... ... middle of paper ... ...lso difficult to relate to Jackson’s actions, since other factors occurring during the post- 1834 time period also affected the panic and not just the down fall of the Second Bank. Therefore, Jackson’s anti- bank views were not simply based on personal prejudice, the Second Bank had many questionable principles that had to be terminated. Bibliography 1) Adams, James Truslow. The March of Democracy: Vol. II A Half-Century of Expansion. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1933. 2) Davis, Gareth. The Destruction of the Second Bank of the United States Rationale and Effects. 3) The First Roughshod President: The Jackson Presidency: Domestic Affairs. 4) The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The Bank War. 2001. 5) Hofstadte, Richard. Vol. II Great Issues In American History. New York: Vintage Books, 1958. 6) Schlesinger, Arthur M. The Age of Jackson. Boston: Brown and Company, 1953.
In the summer of 1832 and Congress renewed the Bank’s charter even though it wasn’t due until 1836. Jackson hesitated to approve of the charter, so Henry Clay and Nicholas Biddle went on the offensive to attempt to persuade Jackson to pass the bill. Jackson, having had his opinion on the banks cemented by Clay’s presence in the organization, then committed to de-establishing the Second National Bank. He waged war against Biddle in particular to make sure Biddle lost power. He vetoed the bank bill, and after winning the race to be reelected, he closed Biddle’s bank. He ordered his Secretary of the Treasury to move money from the Second National Bank to smaller, state banks. When Congress returned from its summer recess, it censured him for his actions. In 1836, Bank of US was dead, and the new democratic-congressmen expunged Jackson’s censure. Because Jackson had no formal plan for managing the nation’s funds after the Second National Bank closed, it caused problems in Van Buren’s administration. He destroyed the Bank of the United States, in the main, for personal reasons. Jackson hated the bank before his presidency because as a wealthy land and slave owner he had lost money due to its fiscal policies. He believed that Congress had no right under the constitution to charter a
Recognizing the injustices president Andrew Jackson performed, Americans have considered the dispute over the removal of Jackson 's face from the twenty dollar bill. The real question remains why place America 's figures in iconic positions based on fame? Benedict Arnold is famous, yet he was a traitor to America . Why not place figures that contributed to the well-being of the country and upheld humane morals? Jackson 's administration only improved the system, initiating the progress toward a modern democratic government. Under President Jackson, the elimination of voter property qualifications allowed a variety of citizens from different social classes to elect government officials 1. Jackson also ended the national banks that resembled the greedy monopolies of the late 1800's 1.
During The Jacksonian Era many different views and ideas were predominant about the United States. The Jacksonian Democrats were a loose coalition of different peoples and interests pulled together by a common practical idea. That idea was that they all were followers of President Andrew Jackson. Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as guardians of the Constitution when in fact they were not. When dealing with politics and ideas within the Democratic Party of the time the Jacksonians proved to be both guardians and violators of the Constitution. Individual liberty is another area in which the Jacksonians were advocates to different sides of the topic at different times. The Jacksonians also proved to be champions for equality of economic opportunity. The Jacksonians demonstrated themselves to be, not the proponents they thought they were, but instead violators of the US Constitution.
This reminds of the real reason Andrew Jackson was so passionate about vetoing the bank, which wasn’t that, “the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes,” (Doc B). During this time of Jackson’s presidency, the election was soon to come, and his opponent Henry Clay wanted to renew the bank charter well before it was due, in order to better his position to run. Andrew Jackson took this as an offense, and started a personal war with the bank’s president, Nicholas Biddle. In reality, it was Jackson with the “selfish purposes” to veto the bank in the first
He believed the bank and those who controlled it had too much power and could ruin the country financially for their own gains. In 1833, Jackson fired his Treasury Secretary for refusing to remove deposits from the Second Bank and became the only President censured by the Senate for his actions, although the censure was expunged at the end of his second term. In January 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished. However, in 1837, depression ensued and the national debt rose
ank War was the campaign began by President Andrew Jackson in 1833. Campaign main purpose was to destroy the Second bank. After his reelection he was convinced that he has won national support. Second bank was established in 1816. Second Bank’s charter renewal bill was vetoed by President calling it was an early renewal in 1832 however it was still possible in 1836 when Charter expired to stop happening that Jackson lower the economic bank power. On October 1, 1833 Jackson made an announcement that federal funds will no longer will be in Bank of the United States, instead it will be in State Banks. Nicholas Biddle president of the banks was waiting for Jackson actions, he started giving loans, and contracting credit. His thinking was that financial
Munsey, Christopher. “A long road back”. Monitor on Psychology. 38.6. June 2007. 34. PSYARTICLES. Web. 5 March 2014.
In fighting against an aristocratic economic overtake, like many before, the Jacksonian Democrats were vehemently opposed to the encroachment upon individual economic equality. For Andrew Jackson, that threat was the Second Bank of the United States. Criticizing the National Bank because, “it appears that more than a fourth part of the stock is held by foreigners and the ...
He believed that these institutions were at the core of current abuse of power and favored the elite. He believed that the economy was run by these bankers and fraud was rampant. The country had borrowed it could not pay back leaving the country in debt. The only way this could be solved was to shutter the banks and to begin paying off the debt. President Jackson ultimately vetoed the bill to re-charter the banks. (Sharp, 1970) This veto increased the powers of the executive branch. He vetoed more bills than any other of the presidents combined. Jackson’s disagreements with Congress on many policy making issues was a first for the presidency and this type of political discord made him wildly popular with the
Rank, Otto. Beyond Psychology. Dover Publications. New York. Copyright (c) 1941 by Estelle B. Rank. 1958.
Krech,D., Crutchfield, S. R., Livson, N., Wilson, W.S., Parducci, A. (1982). 'Elements of Psychology'. (4th edition). USA, NY: Knopf Inc.
Jackson did not trust the bank, for the fact that he felt like they had too much power. Nicholas Biddle, president of the second United States bank, renewed the bank charter because the election was near and he thought that Jackson would agree rather than risking the happiness of his supporters. Jackson vetoes the law because of trust issues. Jackson’s hatred of the bank was fueled by personal problems. Roberta McCutcheon from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History explains how Jackson “blamed the banking system for his personal financial misfortunes”. Jackson selfishly only thought about his problems and completely disregarded the people and the economy. After he took down the Biddle Bank, the nation fell into one of its greatest economic depressions where everyone suffered. If Jackson were to of been more open-minded and selfless, none of that would’ve
Gall, S. B., Beins, B., & Feldman, A. (2001). The gale encyclopedia of psychology. (2nd ed.). Detroit, MI: Gale Group.
As his presidency continued, Jackson developed the desire to bring down the Second Bank of America. President Jackson was highly dissatisfied with the manner in which the bank was operating. According to him, the bank did not support the reforms that he had wanted in the United States (Wilentz, 2005). Therefore, he made up his mind that the destruction of the bank was the only realistic way of dealing with the bank. This was one of the most memorable political wars that took place in the United States in the era of Andrew Jackson. There were numerous reasons that also piled up the motivation for Jackson to collapse the bank (Jon, 2008). Some of the reasons that led to the development of the desire to bring down the bank include a combination of the financial challenges that he was experiencing, the fact that he had roots from Tennessee and his perceptions on the rights of the state. The bank acted as the ultimate financial power-house and this led to a big effect on the stability of the economy of the state because it was the fiscal policy
Passer, M., Smith, R., Holt, N., Bremner, A., Sutherland, E., & Vliek, M. (2009). Psychology; Science of Mind and Behaviour. (European Edition). New York.