Editing Andrew Jackson (section)

===Bank War and Election of 1832===
{{Main|Bank War|Banking in the Jacksonian Era}}

====Bank veto====
[[File:Downfall of Mother Bank.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|An 1833 lithograph cartoon of Jackson destroying the Second Bank of the United States with his "[[Bank War#Removal of the deposits and panic of 1833–1834|Removal Notice]]" by Zachariah Downing, published by Henry R. Robinson; [[Nicholas Biddle]] is portrayed as the devil.|alt=Jackson holds up document towards a devil and other people who flee while columns tumble around them.]]

A few weeks after his inauguration, Jackson started looking into how he could replace the Second Bank of the United States.{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|p=74}} The Bank had been chartered by President Madison in 1816 to restore the United States economy after the War of 1812. Monroe had appointed [[Nicholas Biddle (banker)|Nicholas Biddle]] as the Bank's executive.{{sfn|Latner|2002|pp=111}} The Bank was a repository for the country's public monies which also serviced the national debt; it was formed as a for-profit entity that looked after the concerns of its shareholders.{{sfn|Campbell|2016|pp=273, 277}} In 1828, the country was prosperous{{sfn|Howe|2007|pp=375–376}} and the currency was stable,{{sfn|Hammond|1957|p=374}} but Jackson saw the Bank as a fourth branch of government run by an elite,{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|p=74}} what he called the "money power" that sought to control the labor and earnings of the "real people", who depend on their own efforts to succeed: the planters, farmers, mechanics, and laborers.{{sfn|Meyers|1960|p=20–24}} Additionally, Jackson's own near bankruptcy in 1804 due to credit-fuelled land speculation had biased him against paper money and toward a policy favorable to [[Hard money (policy)|hard money]].{{sfn|Sellers|1954|p=61–84}}

In his [[1829 State of the Union Address|First Annual Address]] in December 1829, Jackson openly challenged the Bank by questioning its constitutionality and the soundness of its money.{{sfn|Perkins|1987|pp=532–533}} Jackson's supporters further alleged that it gave preferential loans to speculators and merchants over artisans and farmers, that it used its money to bribe congressmen and the press, and that it had ties with foreign creditors. Biddle responded to Jackson's challenge in early 1830 by using the Bank's vast financial holding to ensure the Bank's reputation, and his supporters argued that the Bank was the key to prosperity and stable commerce. By the time of the 1832 election, Biddle had spent over $250,000 ({{Inflation|US|250000|1832|fmt=eq|r=-2|cursign=$}}) in printing pamphlets, lobbying for pro-Bank legislation, hiring agents and giving loans to editors and congressmen.{{sfn|Campbell|2016|pp=274–278}}

On the surface, Jackson's and Biddle's positions did not appear irreconcilable. Jackson seemed open to keeping the Bank if it could include some degree of Federal oversight, limit its real estate holdings, and have its property subject to taxation by the states.{{sfn|Perkins|1987|pp=534–535}} Many of Jackson's cabinet members thought a compromise was possible. In 1831, Treasury Secretary [[Louis McLane]] told Biddle that Jackson was open to chartering a modified version of the Bank, but Biddle did not consult Jackson directly. Privately, Jackson expressed opposition to the Bank;{{sfn|Campbell|2016|pp=285}} publicly, he announced that he would leave the decision concerning the Bank in the hands of the people.{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|pp=285}} Biddle was finally convinced to take open action by Henry Clay, who had decided to run for president against Jackson in the 1832 election. Biddle would agree to seek renewal of the charter two years earlier than scheduled. Clay argued that Jackson was in a bind. If he vetoed the charter, he would lose the votes of his pro-Bank constituents in Pennsylvania; but if he signed the charter, he would lose his anti-Bank constituents. After the recharter bill was passed, Jackson vetoed it on July 10, 1832, arguing that the country should not surrender the will of the majority to the desires of the wealthy.{{sfn|Baptist|2016|p=260|ps=. See {{Cite web |title=President Jackson's Bank Veto, 1832 |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/USHistory/Building/docs/Jackson%20on%20the%20Bank.htm |url-status=live |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=www.ucl.ac.uk}} for text of the speech.}}

====Election of 1832====
{{Main|1832 United States presidential election}}

[[File:Electoral Votes for 1832- Focus on Jackson.png|thumb|[[United States 1832 presidential election|1832 presidential election results]]|alt=A map of the 1832 presidential election. Blue states were won by Jackson.]]

The 1832 presidential election demonstrated the rapid development of political parties during Jackson's presidency. The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in [[Baltimore]], nominated Jackson's choice for vice president, Martin Van Buren. The [[National Republican Party]], which had held its first convention in Baltimore earlier in December 1831, nominated Clay, now a senator from Kentucky, and [[John Sergeant (politician)|John Sergeant]] of Pennsylvania.{{sfn|Meacham|2008|p=218}} An [[Anti-Masonic Party]], with a platform built around opposition to Freemasonry,{{sfn|Meacham|2008|p=420}} supported neither Jackson nor Clay, who both were Masons. The party nominated [[William Wirt (Attorney General)|William Wirt]] of Maryland and [[Amos Ellmaker]] of Pennsylvania.{{sfn|Latner|2002|pp=112–113}}

In addition to the votes Jackson would lose because of the bank veto, Clay hoped that Jackson's Indian Removal Act would alienate voters in the East; but Jackson's losses were offset by the Act's popularity in the West and Southwest. Clay had also expected that Jackson would lose votes because of his stand on internal improvements.{{sfn|Gammon|1922|pp=55–56}} Jackson had [[Maysville Road veto|vetoed the Maysville Road bill]], which funded an upgrade of a section of the [[National Road]] in Clay's state of Kentucky; Jackson had argued it was unconstitutional to fund internal improvements using national funds for local projects.{{sfn|Jackson|1966|pp=261–268}}

Clay's strategy failed. Jackson was able to mobilize the Democratic Party's strong political networks.{{sfn|Latner|2002|p=113}} The Northeast supported Jackson because he was in favor of maintaining a stiff tariff; the West supported him because the Indian Removal Act reduced the number of Native Americans in the region and made available more public land.{{sfn|Van Deusen|1963|p=54}} Except for South Carolina, which passed the Ordinance of Nullification during the election month and refused to support any party by giving its votes to the future Governor of Virginia [[John B. Floyd]],{{sfn|Ericson|1995|p=259}} the South supported Jackson for implementing the Indian Removal Act, as well as for his willingness to compromise by signing the Tariff of 1832.{{sfn|Ratcliffe|2000|p=10–14}} Jackson won the election by a landslide, receiving 55 percent of the popular vote and 219 electoral votes.{{sfn|Latner|2002|p=113}}

====Removal of deposits and censure====
{{Further|Censure of Andrew Jackson}}
[[File:King Andrew the First (political cartoon of President Andrew Jackson).jpg|thumb|An 1832 lithograph cartoon, "King Andrew the First" by an anonymous artist, depicting Jackson|alt=Jackson dressed as king with robe and crown, veto in hand and stepping on the Constitution]]

Jackson saw his victory as a mandate to continue his war on the Bank's control over the national economy.{{sfn|Ellis|1974|p=63}} In 1833, Jackson signed an executive order ending the deposit of Treasury receipts in the bank.{{sfn|Knodell|2006|p=542}} When Secretary of the Treasury McLane refused to execute the order, Jackson replaced him with [[William J. Duane]], who also refused. Jackson then appointed [[Roger B. Taney]] as acting secretary, who implemented Jackson's policy.{{sfn|Schmidt|1955|p=328}} With the loss of federal deposits, the Bank had to contract its credit.{{sfn|Gatell|1967|p=26}} Biddle used this contraction to create an economic downturn in an attempt to get Jackson to compromise. Biddle wrote, "Nothing but the evidence of suffering abroad will produce any effect in Congress."{{sfn|Schlesinger|1945|p=103}} The attempt did not succeed: the economy recovered and Biddle was blamed for the recession.{{sfn|Howe|2007|pp=391–392}}

Jackson's actions led those who disagreed with him to form the Whig Party. They claimed to oppose Jackson's expansion of executive power, calling him "[[King Andrew the First]]", and naming their party after the [[Whigs (British political party)|English Whigs]] who [[Glorious Revolution|opposed]] the British monarchy in the 17th century.{{sfn|Ellis|1974|p=62}} In March 1834, the Senate [[censure]]d Jackson for inappropriately taking authority for the Treasury Department when it was the responsibility of Congress and refused to confirm Taney's appointment as secretary of the treasury.{{sfn|Ellis|1974|p=54}} In April, however, the House declared that the bank should not be rechartered. By July 1836, the Bank no longer held any federal deposits.{{sfn|Knodell|2006|p=566}}

Jackson had Federal funds deposited into state banks friendly to the administration's policies, which critics called [[pet banks]].{{sfn|Gatell|1964|pp=35–37}} The number of these state banks more than doubled during Jackson's administration,{{sfn|Schmidt|1955|p=328}} and investment patterns changed. The Bank, which had been the federal government's fiscal agent, invested heavily in [[Trade finance|trade]] and financed interregional and international trade. State banks were more responsive to state governments and invested heavily in [[Equity (finance)|land development]], land speculation, and state public works projects.{{sfn|Knodell|2006|pp=562–563}} In spite of the efforts of Taney's successor, [[Levi Woodbury]], to control them, the pet banks expanded their loans, helping to create a speculative boom in the final years of Jackson's administration.{{sfn|Howe|2007|p=393}}

In January 1835, Jackson paid off the national debt, the only time in U.S. history that it had been accomplished.<ref name="npr">{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Robert|title=When the U.S. paid off the entire national debt (and why it didn't last)|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/04/15/135423586/|work=Planet Money|publisher=NPR|access-date=January 15, 2014|date=April 15, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Our History |url=http://publicdebt.treas.gov/history/history.htm |publisher=Bureau of the Public Debt |access-date=February 21, 2016 |date=November 18, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306012419/http://publicdebt.treas.gov/history/history.htm |archive-date=March 6, 2016 }}</ref> It was paid down through tariff revenues,{{sfn|Latner|2002|p=113}} carefully managing federal funding of internal improvements like roads and canals,{{sfn|Howe|2007|pp=358–360}} and the sale of public lands.{{sfn|Howe|2007|p=395}} Between 1834 and 1836, the government had an unprecedented spike in land sales:{{sfn|Rousseau|2002|pp=460–461}} At its peak in 1836, the profits from land sales were eight to twelve times higher than a typical year.{{sfn|Timberlake|1965|p=412}} During Jackson's presidency, 63 million acres of public land—about the size of the state of Oklahoma—was sold.{{sfn|Schmidt|1955|p=325}} After Jackson's term expired in 1837, a Democrat-majority Senate [[Expungement|expunged]] Jackson's censure.{{sfn|Remini|1984|p=377}}{{sfn|US Senate|1837}}

====Panic of 1837====
{{Main|Panic of 1837}}

[[File:The times panic 1837.jpg|thumb|A lithograph cartoon of the [[Panic of 1837]] published by [[Henry R. Robinson]] in 1837; Jackson is symbolized by "glory" in the sky with top hat, spectacles, and pipe.|alt=Political cartoon showing people suffering from economic trouble]]

Despite the economic boom following Jackson's victory in the Bank War, land speculation in the west caused the [[Panic of 1837]].{{sfn|Olson|2002|p=190}}  Jackson's transfer of federal monies to state banks in 1833 caused western banks to relax their lending standards;{{sfn|Rousseau|2002|pp=459–460}} the Indian Removal Act made large amounts of former Native American lands available for purchase and speculation.{{sfn|Parins|Littlefield|2011|p=[{{Google Books|id=A7OlZPtIMy4C|pg=PR14|plainurl=yes}} xiv]}} Two of Jackson's acts in 1836 contributed to the Panic of 1837. One was the [[Specie Circular]], which mandated western lands only be purchased by money backed by [[bullion coin|specie]]. The act was intended to stabilize the economy by reducing speculation on credit, but it caused a drain of gold and silver from the Eastern banks to the Western banks to address the needs of financing land transactions.{{sfn|McGrane|1965|pp=60–62}} The other was the Deposit and Distribution Act, which transferred federal monies from eastern to western state banks.  Together, they left Eastern banks unable to pay specie to the British when they recalled their loans to address their economic problems in international trade.{{sfn|Rousseau|2002|p=48}} The panic drove the U.S. economy into a depression that lasted until 1841.{{sfn|Olson|2002|p=190}}