United States History Student Edition

In this cartoon, President Jackson holds up an order removing federal deposits from the Second Bank of the United States as the pillars of the Bank topple. The men scurrying away are newspaper publishers, bankers, and other Bank supporters.

viewed the Bank as a monopoly that favored wealthy Easterners and limited western growth. Congress had set up the Bank in 1816 to hold the federal government’s money and to control the nation’s money supply. Private bankers, rather than elected officials, ran the Bank. The Bank’s strict policies made it difficult for western settlers to obtain loans to run their farms. Jackson’s opponents Henry Clay and Daniel Webster believed the Bank had the support of the American people. They schemed to use the Bank to help Clay defeat Jackson in the 1832 presidential election. They persuaded the Bank’s president, Nicholas Biddle, to apply early to renew its charter —a government permit to run the Bank—even though the Bank’s charter did not expire until 1836. Clay and Webster thought that if Jackson tried to veto, or reject, the renewal of the Bank’s charter, he would lose support. Jackson did veto the bill, but Webster and Clay’s plan backfired. Most voters supported Jackson’s veto, and he was reelected. Jackson then decided to “kill” the Bank even before its current charter ended. He ordered all government deposits withdrawn from the Bank and placed in smaller state banks. In 1836, he refused to sign a new charter for the Bank, and it closed. Jackson decided not to run for a third term in 1836. The Democrats chose Martin Van Buren, Jackson’s vice president during his second term.

Jackson vetoed the bill. He argued that because the road would be entirely within Kentucky, it should be a state project. In other words, the federal government should support only those projects that benefit the entire nation. In 1832, Congress passed a lower tariff. It was not enough to cool the protest in the South. South Carolina passed the Nullification Act, declaring it would not pay “illegal” tariffs. The state threatened to secede, or break away, from the Union if the federal government interfered. Jackson believed in a strong Union. He asked Congress to pass the Force Bill, granting him military powers to enforce federal tariffs. A new, lowered tariff was also enacted. South Carolina accepted the new tariff but nullified the Force Bill. 7 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 1. Identifying What policy positions did Jacksonian Democrats take? 2. Explaining How did tariffs lead to the nullification crisis? Jackson’s War Against the Bank GUIDING QUESTION What events occurred when President Jackson forced the national bank to close? Andrew Jackson disapproved of the Second Bank of the United States long before he became president. Like many other Westerners, Jackson

scheme to plot, conspire charter a government permit or license

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-809]

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