Jackson and the Bank

By Gracie Morris

  • Formation of the Political Party, Whigs

    The Whigs were Jackson's political opponents who opposed Jackson's "monarchial rule." The leaders of the Whigs were Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. This party didn't unite during the Election of 1838.

  • Bank War of 1832

    This event was between Andrew Jackson and Nicholas Biddle, who was the president of the Bank.The two men disagreed on whether or not the second National Bank needed a recharter and who supported this recharter.Jackson was against the renewal, but Biddle supported the renewal.Biddle started to call in loans and contract credit because of what Jackson was doing.Eventually, businesses were falling apart and the economy was declining.Federal deposits were not returned to the Second Bank.Jackson won.

  • Jackson's Bank Veto Message

    Congress tried to pass a bill a bill that would renew the charter of the Second National Bank of the U.S. President Jackson was against this, so he vetoed the bill, and explained why in his message. Jackson thought that the bank was evil, unconstitutional, and wasn't going to help the economy. He thought that the bank's charter was unfair and was a bad policy. Nicholas Biddle,the Bank's president,was not happy about Jackson's veto message since he thought that the bank was good and should exist.

  • Pet Banks

    President Jackson wanted to "crush" the central bank since he believed that it was evil. He saw his victory in the election as a way to get rid of the bank. He ordered an end to deposits of government money in the bank and he also stopped gradual withdrawals of the money that was already in the bank's custody. This made the government deposit/move its funds in selected state banks known as pet banks. The federal government had to deposit its funds to state banks rather than one central bank.

  • Specie Circular

    This was the executive order that President Jackson created that required people to pay in gold or silver when it came to purchasing public land or paying debts. It was a way for the government currency to be strengthened since hard money was being used now rather than paper money. Paper money was harder to obtain and it was declining in value for federal land, so the government didn't want to accept it. He wanted to lower the inflation that existed in the nation. Led to the Panic of 1837.

  • Panic of 1837

    The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis that lasted until the mid 1840s and was caused by the economic policies that President Jackson created. The nation started to use hard money, which refers to gold and silver. This caused inflation, unemployment, and recession to occur, which wasn't good for the nation. An unstable currency and financial system existed during this. Many people were affected and banks also suffered. The Specie Circular and the refusal to renew the bank contributed to this.