Andrew Jacksons and the Bank essays

Andrew Jacksons and the Bank essays Andrew Jackson had multiple motives for killing the Bank of the United States. He distrusted the bank president Nicholas Biddle; he felt that the Bank was unconstitutional, that it held to much power and that it would use it inappropriately in elections and other political occasions. The reasons for which Andrew Jackson closed the bank were legitimate and valid, regardless of the devastating effects that his decision would eventually inflict upon the American people. One of Jacksons main reasons for closing or killing the Bank, was that it possessed a very powerful influence on national affairs and that it had no higher power to answer to. It did not have to answer to the government nor did it have to answer to the people because it had signed a charter releasing it from those duties. The bank was controlled privately but was granted a charter by the government which basically allowed both the government and the private shareholders to share in the financial ventures. Additionally, it was a storehouse for public funds and it did not have to pay state taxes. As a result of these factors the bank was too powerful and if it were not subdued or ended altogether it would become a threat to the American governments. It could, if it chose to, use its power inappropriately in many different ways, such as: influencing political situations, giving out loans selectively etc. This was Jacksons first and main reason for closing the Bank. He felt that poli tical occasions, such as elections, should never be influenced by anybody but the public and that loans should be given to all who qualify, regardless of political implications. Jackson also suspected that the bank was not apolitical (politically neutral) as Nicholas Biddle, the Bank President, claimed it was. Biddle received a warning from one of Jacksons advocates early on advising him to stay apolitical, Biddle, for whatever reason failed to take...