Chapter 11 The Jackson Era (1824-1845)
Section 3 Jackson and the Bank
MAIN IDEA:
Economic issues affected the presidencies of
Andrew Jackson & Martin Van Buren.
veto/vetar
To reject a bill an
prevent it from
becoming a law.
depression/depresíon
a period of low
economic activity
and widespread
unemployment
laissez-faire/laissez-faire
Policy that
government
should interfere
as little as
possible in the
nation’s economy.
log cabin campaign
/campaña de cabana rustica
Name given to William
Henry Harrison’s
campaign for presidency
in 1840, from the Whigs’
use of a log cabin as their
symbol
How do economic issues affect the
president and presidential elections?
The National Bank
 Andrew Jackson hated the Bank of
the United States
 Jackson felt it helped the wealthy
Easterners
 The bank was a powerful institution
that held the federal governments
money
 The Bank’s president, Nicholas
Biddle, represented everything
Jackson disliked
 Jackson was a self-made man while
Biddle was born into a wealthy
family
Jackson attacked the Bank of the United States
because
A. it was being run by
corrupt elected officials.
B. it provided loans to
all citizens.
C. it financed foreign
business deals that
put Americans out of work.
A.
A
B.
B
C.
C
D.
D
D. it was controlled by wealthy Easterners.
Campaign of 1832
 Jackson’s opponents, Henry
Clay and Daniel Webster,
were friends of Biddle
 Clay and Webster planned to
use the Bank to defeat
Jackson
 They persuaded Biddle to
apply for an early charter
(The old one did not expire
until 1836)
 Clay and Webster felt that if
Jackson vetoed the charter it
would lead to his defeat
 Clay could then be elected
president
The Bank’s Charter
 When the bill to renew
the Bank’s charter came
to Jackson to sign, he was
sick in bed
 Jackson told his friend
Martin Van Buren- “The
bank…is trying to kill me.
But I will kill it!”
 Jackson vetoed the bill
 Jackson felt the Bank was
unconstitutional (Contrary
to McCulloch v. Maryland)
 “The laws… make the rich
richer”
Does this cartoon support the President or the Bank?
The Election of 1832
 The plan for gaining
support for Clay
backfired
 Most people supported
Jackson’s veto
 Jackson was reelected
 Jackson chose to “kill”
the Bank ahead of the
1836 schedule
 All money was
withdrawn and put into
smaller state banks
 In 1836 he refused to
sign a new charter for
the Bank, and it closed
Election of 1836
 Jackson decided not to
run for a third term and
the Democrats chose
Martin Van Buren
 A new party, the Whigs,
nominated three
candidates (Each had a
following in different
parts of the country)
 Jackson’s popularity
helped Van Buren win
easily
 Shortly after Van Buren
became president, the
country entered a
severe economic
depression
The Panic of 1837
 The depression began with the Panic of 1837
 Land values dropped, investments declined, and
banks failed
 1000s of businesses closed and people lost jobs
 In the South,
cotton prices
dropped to record
lows
 Farmers went into
debt and lost their
land
 In the cities, many
could not afford
food or rent
President Van Buren
 Believed in laissez-faire (Like
Jefferson)
 Van Buren persuaded Congress
to establish an independent
federal treasury in 1840
 The government will not
deposit money in private banks
(Like they did under Jackson)
 The private banks had used
government funds to back their
banknotes
 The new treasury system would
keep this from happening and
avoid crises
 Van Buren’s own party along
with the Whigs criticized the act
The Whigs
 The Whigs nominated
William Henry Harrison, a
hero of the War of 1812
 John Tyler, a planter from
Virginia, was Harrison’s
running mate
 Harrison won national fame
for defeating Tecumseh’s
followers at the Battle of
Tippecanoe
 The Whig’s used the slogan
“Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”
 To win the election Harrison
had to gain support from the
laborers and farmers who
supported Jackson
What was the reason the Whigs won the 1840
election?
A. They made a “corrupt bargain”
with Henry Clay to steal the
presidency.
B. The Democrats split over
Van Buren.
A.
A
B.
B
C. They ended the Panic of 1837.
C.
C
D.
D
D. They gained support from farmers
and laborers rather than the wealthy elite.
The Log Cabin Campaign
 Harrison and the Whigs chose a log cabin as their symbol
 Harrison was rich, but wanted to look like a “man of the
people”
 The Whigs criticized Van Buren as “King Martin” that spent
the peoples money on fancy furniture for the White House
 The Log Cabin Campaign worked- Harrison won by a wide
margin
 Harrison became the first Whig president
Harrison’s Inauguration
 Inauguration day
1841- bitter cold
 Harrison insisted on
giving his speech
without a hat or coat
 He died 32 days later
 Served the shortest
term of any
American President
 VP John Tyler
became president
Tyler’s Presidency
 John Tyler had once been a Democrat
 The Whigs added him to the ticket with
Harrison to attract Southern voters
 Tyler vetoed many Whig sponsored bills
(Including a recharter of the Bank)
 His lack of party loyalty outraged many
Whigs
 Whig leaders in Congress expelled Tyler
from the party
 The Whigs could not agree on their
party’s goals
 They voted according to sectional ties
 Henry Clay (Now a Whig) lost the election
of 1844 to Democratic candidate James
Polk
How do economic issues affect the
president and presidential elections?
- Closing of the Bank
- The Panic of 1837
- Economic depression