sperous basis. But Andrew Jackson was always determined to destroy it (Brinkley, 249). The Bank had two opposition groups: the “soft-money” faction and the “hard-money” faction. Soft money advocates objected to the Bank of the United States because it restrained the state banks from issuing notes freely. Hard money advocates believed that coin was the only safe currency, and they condemned all banks that issued bank notes. Although Jackson was a hard money supporter, he was sensitive to his many soft money supporters, and made it clear that he would object to renewing the charter of the Bank of the United States, which was due to expire in 1836. When Jackson could not legally abolish the Bank of the United States before the expiration of its charter, he weakened it by removing the government’s deposits from the bank. Jackson fired two of his secretary of treasury when they refused to carry out the order because they believed that such an action would destabilize the financial system. Jackson got Roger Taney to carry out his order. Taney took the deposits out of the Bank of the United States and put them in state banks. Biddle, in response, called in loans and raised the interest rates, in which his actions precipitated a short recession. Supporters of the Bank petitioned to Washington urging a rechartering of the Bank. Jackson blamed the recession on Biddle and refused. When the Bank of the United States died in 1836, it left the country with a fragmented and chronically unstable banking system that plagued the economy for many years (Brinkley, 251).Jackson also wanted to make changes in the government. In his first Annual Message to Congress, he recommended eliminating the Electoral College, and tried to democratize Federal officeholding. He believed that the duties in government could be plain and simple that offices should rotate among deserving applicants (Jackson, Seventh President 1829-1837). During h...
