Transcript Jackson and the Bank of the United States

Jackson and the Bank of the
United States
Bank of the United States
Jackson distrusted a nationalized bank with
too much power, and the Bank of the United
States had more power than any in the
country.
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The bank acted as though it was a nationalized
sector of the federal government.
 Printed its own paper money.
 Became the primary depository for government funds
throughout the Washington, Adams and Jefferson
administrations.
 Became a powerful entity in America’s economy.
Problems with the Bank of the
United States
Private Institution
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Though it acted in many ways as a government
entity, the Bank of the United States was
accountable to its wealthy investors.
This gave Nicholas Biddle, the bank’s president
and not a government employee, an immense
amount of power over the nation’s funding.
Profit was the primary mission of the bank.
The Bank-War
When Daniel Webster and Henry Clay
presented Congress with a bill to renew the
Bank of the United States’ charter, they were
met with strict opposition by the Jackson
administration.
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As Clay was Jackson’s primary rival, this became a
major issue in the upcoming election.
The bill was presented with the hope that Jackson
would alienate his constituents either way he went
with the decision.
 If passed, he would anger his voters in the West whom the
bank had foreclosed on to send money to Eastern factories.
 If vetoed, he would anger the Eastern manufacturers that
stood to profit from the bank’s existence.
Jackson vetoes and kills the
Bank of the United States
Jackson followed with his political distrust of
the bank and vetoed its proposed renewed
charter.
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With the renewal denied, Jackson was still not
content. He felt that Biddle would use his
remaining power to demonstrate the power and
necessity of the bank.
In order to prevent this, Jackson took all federal
funding out of the Bank of the United States.
 Biddle’s response was to call in all loans across the
nation owned to the bank, hoping to cause a small
financial crisis.
 Really, the only effect of this was the collapse of a few
smaller banks.
Assignment
Describe the development of the Whig
Party and the impact of the election of
1836.