2nd National Bank

Bank Notes

1829

There were approximately 329 bank notes in circulation within the U.S. in which varied from bank to bank in different states and served as a form of credit or check in a sense.

Jackson's second election

1832

Despite the attempts from all of Jackson's opposition and the setups he had walked into, he was re-elected into office with a major victory with 219 to 49 votes.

Jackson forced to present his side

1832

Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and other political opponents of Jackson decided to force him into either choosing for or against the Second National Bank in order to have political gain from the people Jackson does not side with. Jackson vetoed the bill and stated the purpose of it was just to make the rich richer.

Jackson Makes Treasurer Resign

1833

Jackson made an order for the Secretary of Treasury to divert federal revenues to state banks. This caused the treasurer to be very distraught and resign and refuse to do it. Jackson states, "The Bank...is trying to kill me, but I will kill it."

The Whig Party

1834

This party was the opposition to Jackson’s ideals. They wanted to condemn Jackson for removing the national bank deposits. The main presidential candidate to run against Van Buren was William Henry Harrison.

Britain Increases Interest Rates

1836

Great Britain decided to raise interest rates drastically out of nowhere. This led to the United States losing a large sum of money and many states were forced to rely on other foreign nations in order to maintain their economic value and prevent bankruptcy.

Specie Circular

Jul 11, 1836

The National Bank's way of keeping the commerce in balance was to use gold and silver for the main economic income throughout the nation in order to not worry about the different currencies throughout the states.

Panic of 1837 (Jackson Related)

1837

This was caused by a huge drop of the economy. around 50,000 people were thrown out and became unemployed and around 200,000 were not able to financially support themselves. Cotton prices had been dropped in half and there was a large amount of debt during this time period. Many people blame Jackson for the scare due to the economic flooding of the states economy instead of it all being housed within a national bank.

Panic of 1837 (Non-Jackson Related)

1837

A large thought for another reason that might have caused the Panic of 1837 is the thought that a large surplus of cotton was produced and many farmers had lost their jobs and had become bankrupt because they were no longer making as much since there was not as high of a demand as there originally was. This is tied in with the taxes Britain had increased in 1836 because this caused them to lose a lot of the money they originally gained from trading with Britain.

Election of 1840

1840

William Henry Harrison was the main candidate running against Van Buren. His ideas were the complete opposite of Buren and Jackson’s ideals. When he was elected, he presented his acceptance speech in the freezing rain. Due to this he caught pneumonia and died 31 days later in office.

2nd National Bank Falls

1840

While the 2nd National Bank still technically existed at the time, most of the states had the money at this time and the remaining funds were locked away, separate from the national bank in order to ensure the nation does not become fully bankrupt. While this money could have been used in the reform of the bank and the U.S. economic state, it was locked away for safety to ensure the money was not lost. This created the individual treasury system.

Recovery of the U.S. Economy

1840

The U.S. economy struggled to recover from the Panic of 1837 due to Jackson's policies. Since Jackson and his vice president, Martin Van Buren, both had a solid belief on the idea of a limited government, they would not change the policies to lend out more money in order to recover, rather the money was locked away to be ensured they would not go farther into debt and possibly become bankrupt.