Bank War Essay Research Paper Did the

Bank War Essay, Research Paper

Did the Bank War cause the Panic of 1837. Richard Hofstadter from The American Political Tradition and the Men

Who Made It believes President Andrew Jackson.s refusal to recharter the Bank of the United States was politically

popular but economically harmful to the long-term growth of the United States. Peter Tenim, from The Jacksonian

Economy, believes international factors, such as changes in the monetary policies of the Bank of England, the

supply of silver from Mexico, and the price of southern cotton, were far more important than Jackson.s banking

policies in determining fluctuations in the 1830s economy. The two intelligent men present their facts and arguments

well and make it hard for the reader to mold their opinion for either side. After reading both arguments and

thoroughly reviewing the facts stated, I took the side of Peter Tenim by saying that the war against the Bank of the

United States was not the cause of the Panic of 1837.

I have to agree with Mr. Tenim simply because there were more factors present in his opinion involving the Panic of

1837. The opinion of Mr. Hofstadter revolved around one factor, which was the war against the Bank of the United

States. In order to somewhat disprove Mr. Hofstadter.s theory, I believe we have to analyze the relationship between

President Andrew Jackson and Nicholas Biddle, who at the time was the President of the Bank. Mr. Jackson was

very much a man of the middle class. He believed in the American dream of becoming an entrepreneur and the

opportunity to create wealth for oneself. He disliked the cheap and sometimes-worthless paper money the banks

printed. The only money he trusted was hard money, gold and silver. He was especially bitter against the Bank of

the United States, which with its monopoly of the government.s business was a symbol of all hated special privilege.

He thought it was evil as well as unconstitutional, and he loathed it. More impo!

rtantly though, he was a person who had experience using the so-called capital makers of the time and trying to start

businesses. For example, the one time in his career President Jackson owned land, which he sold to various

individual and received notes as payments. Unfortunately, these buyers were unable to pay back the notes and

President Jackson lost his land. He then had to start from scratch. He also had become a debtor and due to financial

hardships, he was unable to pay off his own debts. President Jackson was faced with a double-sided sword because

people were unable to repay the debts owed to him, while at the same time he could not pay the debts he owed to

others. Nicholas Biddle, on the other hand, was an entirely different man. Biddle knew how Jackson felt about the

Bank but wanted the President to be on good terms with it. Henry Clay, though, saw the Bank issue as a way to

defeat Jackson in the 1832 election. Clay induced Biddle to apply for a new charte!

r for the Bank early in 1832. He believed that if Jackson dared to veto the recharter bill, he would lose the election.

The plan did not go according for Mr. Clay and Mr. Biddle and Jackson was still the favorite among the people.

President Jackson and Nicholas Biddle were never met good terms with each other and their relationship was one of

argument and disagreement. In my opinion, Biddle wanted to keep the Bank of the United States intact for the sole

purpose of benefiting the aristocrats and the politically involved. Biddle was not, though, the cause of the Panic of

1837. The depression of the early 1840s was neither as serious as historians assume nor the fault of Biddle. It was

primarily a deflation, as opposed to a decline in production, and it was produced by events over which Biddle had

little control over.

Mr. Jackson.s view of banks was a very distressing one. He, along with the people of his party, believed the same

ideology that the banks were in favor of the wealthy and those with political advantage. The only people who

benefited from the banks were the .wall-street. types and people who had a rather great influence in the political

arena. I believe that President Jackson wanted to de-centralize the bank and make it into a more state level. While

Biddle was a major force behind the powerful Bank of the United States becoming more centralized. As far as I can

see, the Bank War was basically summed up in the following question. Should the United States Bank act as king

over the smaller banks. This was a very political debate and I believe it aided in the Panic of 1837, but was not the

primary cause.

During these times, there was a great .boom. period. Farmers and trade people were looking forward to making

their own businesses and sharing in the wealth available. With industrialization taking place, economic growth in the

United States was at an all time high. This boom was one of the largest producers of the Panic of 1837. It resulted

from a combination of large capital imports from England a change in the Chinese desire f

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать