Andrew Jackson's War

Introduction

Andrew Jackson is in the history books of America since he was its seventh president. He got inaugurated in 1829. He was a successful army general as well as a politician. One significant act that he did was the dismantlement of the Second Bank of the United States. He always fought undemocratic aristocracy.

The Actual War with the Second Bank of the United States

The Second Bank of the United States was the central bank of the nation which was federally authorized. It was accountable to the congress and the US treasury. The federal government owned 20% of it while the rest was owned by private investors. Therefore, the stock was only held by a few wealthy Americans (Remini 1967). Andrew Jackson was not happy with this. On December 1829, the first attack on this bank was launched by Andrew Jackson. He claimed that the bank did not produce a stable national currency. It also lacked the legitimacy that comes with the constitution. The two houses of congress carried out investigations and affirmed the constitutionality of the bank. Jackson claimed that they were corrupt and that the bank was dangerous to America (Levy 2006).

Biddle tried to recharter the bank through the cabinet of Jackson to no avail. Henry Clay started the bank war against Jackson since he had the support of Biddle. Jackson vetoed the recharter bill, and the veto was sustained. Therefore, he won the re-election of the anti-bank platform. Jackson removed the federal deposits of the bank and destroyed the bank’s financial and political force. In 1833, private banks received the federal revenue by executive order. The regulatory role of the bank diminished. Biddle tried to rescue the bank. However, there was a general backlash on their Biddle tactics in 1834, and they failed (Kaplan 1999). The bank became a private Corporation in 1836. This was under Pennsylvania commonwealth law. It was liquidated in 1841.

Conclusion

Therefore, Jackson played an enormous role in the war against the Second Bank of the United States. This brought an end to this bank that he thought to be corrupt. He is one of the presidents who caused significant changes in America.