The War on the Bank
- Jacksons presidency is defined by his wars on different thigns
- Bank seen as unconstitutional, so he fights it
- Consolidated power
- Institution run by rich bankers
- Generally give loans to other rich people
- Makes it a natural target for populist Jackson
- Bank of US controls state banks
- Banks that regular people go to
- Monetary policy: How much paper money is in circulaiton
- Loans given out by national bank
- The bank could basically do whatever it wanted and controlled the states financial power
- Limited regular peoples access to paper money
- Backed by gold, so the nation controlled inflation and economy
- People buying and selling land like crazy
- Clay and Webster (The Whigs) vote on the renewal of the bank early, trying to make Jackson look bad
- Jackson vetoes the bank renewal
- Jackson wins again in a landslide victory
- State banks are now free to do what they want
Bank Closes
- Second Bank closes and the nations gold and silver is transferred to state banks
- Action criticized as illegal but Jackson claimed that electoral victory gave him a mandate to kill the bank
- Jackson claimed right to direct national policy
- He doesn’t need congress as he is elected
- Land speculation led to state banks printing too much money (depreciation and inflation)
- Jackson issues the Specie Circular requiring land to be bought witj gold and silver
- Hamiltonian style banking ended, halts activism of Clay and Quincy Adams
Second Party System
- Democrats - Jackson, Buren, Taney
- Distrustful of Fed government
- Agrarianism
- Rotation in office (spoils system)
- Whigs - Clay, Quincy Adams, Webster
- Activist Federal Government
- Anti-Jackson
- More optimistic towards specific groups
- Support from more upscale
- Neither party takes a stance on slavery
- Parties use nominating conventions instead of a caucus to choose presidential candidates
Indian Removal
- Gold discovered in Georgia on Cherokee Land
- Indian Removal Act of 1830: Created Indian Territory in Oklahoma
- Promises money and land to Native Americans to move west of the Mississippi
- Cherokee Nation vs Georgia:
- Claim status of a foreign nation, NA is classified as a “domestic dependent nation”
- Worcester vs Georgia
- Piushes back against laws forbidding Americans libing on Cherokee land
- Georgia could not remove the Native Americans, that would violate federal treaties
- Jackson’s Response
- John Marshall made his decision, let him enforce it
- Treaty of New Echota: Signed with a minority faction, only 2,000 moved
- Van Buren ordered use of military
- Trail of tears
- 14,000 cherokee forcibly moved
- Black War Hawk and Seminole War
- Successful guerilla war to retain some lands
Impact of Jackson’s Presidency
- Upheld national authority during nullification crisis
- Expanded presidential power
- Brough back Jeffersonian beliefs
- Replaced John Marshall with Taney (jacksonian) as chief justice
- Charles River vs Warren Bridge
- Legislative charter does not bestow a monopoly
- Mayor of New York vs Miln
- States can inspect health of arriving immigrants
- Briscoe vs Kentycky Bank
- Bank owned by the state can issue currency despite constitution disallowing issuing of “bills of credit”
Martin Van Burens Presidency
- Jackson chooses Van Buren as his successor
- Chooses to respect 2 term soft limit
- Panic of 1837
- Financial crisis that leads to major economic depression that would last through to the 1840s
- Doesn’t end until California gold rush
- Bank of England limits credit given to the US
- Everyone had to withdraw gold and silver to pay back
- Not enough silver and gold to get to pay back loans
- Bank closures
- Americans blamed Jackson, but it was due to Van Buren’s Laissez Faire approach
- Sets stage for first Whig president