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2nd Bank in 1816
The 2nd national bank was chartered in 1816. Just like the first, it was to be chartered for twenty years. And it was not very popular with the newer territories, mainly because individuals thought it only benefited the wealthy few. Andrew Jackson was one of the ones who was fully against the chartering of the 2nd national bank; he was against the idea of having a national bank. He and his supporters called the national bank a "monster" despite the bank being valuable and well managed. -
Jackson Vetoed the Rechartering Bill 1832
The Rechartering Bill of 1832 was a bill signed by Congress that would recharter the National Bank for another 15 years. However, Jackson vetoed the bill, saying that the national bank was unauthorized by the Constitution, subversive to states' rights, and harmful to the people's liberties. This directly went against McCulloch v. Maryland, which said that the national bank was constitutional. Jackson believed that the bank would give the federal government and the wealthy too much power. -
Election of 1832
The Election of 1832 pitted Andrew Jackson (Democrat) against Henry Clay (Republican); the winner was Andrew Jackson, placing him in his second term as president. One factor of Jackson's popularity and winning the election was his view on the National Bank: many of his voters agreed that the 2nd national bank shouldn't be chartered and in existence (Jackson just vetoed the Rechartering Bill). Jackson winning allowed him to be able to go against and eventually take down the national bank. -
Jackson's Executive Order of 1833
With this executive order, Jackson officially shuts down the second national bank. Instead of the government's money being deposited in the national bank, it would be instead deposited in selected state banks, known as "pet banks." Redistributing federal funds to these "pet banks" (state banks), Jackson ended the so-called "Bank War". However, these pet banks failed to efficiently regulate the economy, contributing to later economic panics on large scales. -
Formation of the Whig Party
Because Jackson vetoed bill to renew national bank, the Whig party formed. Supported bank and internal improvements. technically a new name for the National Republicans, combined with others. -
Specie Circular
Specie Circular was an executive order passed by Andrew Jackson that made it so that payments for purchasing federal land could only be received by the government in either gold or silver. Congress was against this because they saw this as an abuse of power by the president. The act was also harmful to working-class Americans because they could not purchase land in the west from the government, for gold and silver were scarce. -
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 began in the Spring of 1837 and lasted to around the mid-1840s. It was a financial crisis that led to economic depression. The main causes were Andrew Jackson's financial decisions: he refused to charter the 2nd national bank and instead put the federal money in state (pet) banks; and he passed Specie Circular, which made payments for federal land to be only accepted in gold or silver. It led to massive bank failures and unemployment. The economy could not be efficiently run. -
Election of 1840
The election of 1840 was between President Martin Van Buren (Democrat) and Whig General William Henry Harrison, with the winner being Harrison of the Whig party. Harrison was the first Whig to win the presidency. Because of this election, the political landscape changed drastically; the Whig party was a combination of National Republicans, Anti-masons, and dissatisfied Democrats. Harrison was able to benefit from the Panic of 1837 in order to win the presidency in 1840.