Second Bank Controversy

About Second Bank Controversy

President Andrew Jacksons veto of the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States in 1832 was one of the most consequential financial decisions in American history. Jackson argued the Bank was a privileged monopoly that served the wealthy at the expense of ordinary citizens. Bank president Nicholas Biddle attempted to politically pressure Congress to override the veto but failed. Jackson then withdrew government deposits from the Bank, placing them in state banks. The Bank War, as it was called, defined the 1832 election. Jacksons victory led to the Banks demise in 1836. Without a central bank, the US experienced frequent financial panics, culminating in the Panic of 1907 and the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913.