Chapter 10 - hmmskings
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Chapter 10
A Changing Nation
States’ Rights and the Economy
Section 5 Essential Question
How did old issues take a new shape in the
conflict over a national bank and tariffs?
Section 5: States’ Rights and the Economy
The Bank War
The second Bank of the United States earned the
support of the business people.
Pros
Bank made loans to businesses
Safe place for government’s money
Paper currency it issued was stable
Careful policies created confidence in other banks
Cons
Limited the money state banks could lend
Some thought the bank only benefited the wealthy
Jackson vs. The Monster
Bank’s worst enemy was Jackson
He especially disliked the bank’s president – Nicholas
Biddle
He believed Biddle used his position to do favors for
other rich people
Section 5: States’ Rights and the Economy
The bank fight increased the power of the President
Biddle got congress to renew the bank’s charter in 1832
He thought that so many people would support the bank, that Jackson
would be afraid to veto the bill
He was wrong
Jackson vetoed the bank
He won re-election in 1832 by a huge margin
Defeating Henry Clay (a bank supporter – who helped Biddle get the
charter approved in congress)
The bank veto showed that a president could get people involved and
not bend to the will of congress
What were the arguments for and against the
second Bank of the United States?
For; It helped business; it kept federal
money safe; it issued a stable currency; it
created confidence in U.S. Banks.
Against: It hurt farmers and small
merchants; it restricted state banks; it
helped the wealthy; it caused the economic
crisis of 1819.
Section 5: States’ Rights and the Economy
The Question of States Rights
The Constitution gives the federal government many significant
powers. The Tenth Amendment says that powers not
specifically given to the federal government are reserved to the
States or the People.
People had long debated where the balance of power should be
More to states or more to federal government
Alien and Sedition Acts
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
Hartford Conventions
All had raised this question
How does the Tenth amendment limit federal
powers?
It states that any powers not specifically given
to the federal government are reserved to
the state government.
Section 5: States’ Rights and the Economy
The Question of States Rights (cont)
Nullification Crisis
Began in 1828 with a tariff on Iron, Textiles and
other products
The tariff helped manufacturers in the North
and West
But it harmed southerners (they had to pay
more for goods)
Vice President John C. Calhoun argued that
states had the right of nullification
Section 5: States’ Rights and the Economy
Arguments for Nullification
If the government could enforce an ‘unjust’
law, could it also end slavery?
Calhoun thought the following
The Union was formed by an agreement
amongst the states
Each state kept certain powers to itself
One of these powers was to nullify unjust
laws
Section 5: States’ Rights and the Economy
Arguments against Nullification
Daniel Webster summarized it nicely
We are all agents of the same supreme power, the
people
Idea was that the U.S. had not been formed by the
states, but by the people within those states
President vs. Vice President
Jackson – “Our Federal Union – It must be
preserved”
Calhoun – “The Union – next to our liberty – the most
dear”
Calhoun resigned as Vice-President under pressure
What was the position of Vice President John
C. Calhoun on nullification?
He believed that nullification was a right that
individual states had.
Section 5: States’ Rights and the Economy
South Carolina Threatens to Secede
Tariff of 1832 passed by Congress
Lowered some tariffs, but again raised the one on iron and textiles
SC called a state convention
They voted to nullify the 1828 & 1832 tariffs
They said it ‘did not apply to SC’
The state warned the federal government not to use force to impose
the tariffs or SC would leave the union
Jackson is Furious…
He said..
The union cannot be dissolved
Any attempt to do so was treason
Section 5: States’ Rights and the Economy
Jackson goes to Congress
He asks for 2 bills
1 – to lower the 1828 and 1832 tariffs
2 – to use force to collect them from SC
Congress passes both laws
SC backs down
They could not get other states to follow their lead
Didn’t want to stand against the U.S. alone
The crisis had been settled peacefully…. For now.
Section 5: States’ Rights and the Economy
The End of the Jackson Era
Martin Van Buren, Jackson’s Vice President, won the
presidency in 1836.
Soon after he took office the economy was in a severe slump
because Britain was experiencing a economic slowdown,
British manufacturers were buying less cotton which caused
cotton prices to fall sharply.
American banks could not collect on the loans they made, and as
a result, hundreds of banks went bankrupt.
The result was an economic collapse called the Panic of 1837.
What was the main cause of the Panic of
1837?
An economic crisis in Britain.
Section 5 Essential Question
How did old issues take a new shape in the
conflict over a national bank and tariffs?
The issue of national powers versus state
rights resurfaced in the struggle between
Andrew Jackson and the Bank of the
United States and Jackson’s refusal to
allow states to nullify the tariff laws of the
federal government.