American industrialization occurred during the time of Andrew Jackson. For the first time in American history skilled artisans and workers were being replaced by machines. Some Americans began to distrust corporations and saw them as a threat to the American way of life.
Like others of his time Jackson distrusted banks. Jackson and many others did not appreciate or understand how banks worked. Americans preferred to have gold or silver dollars over paper money. Gold and silver they understood, dollars were simply green paper. The banks represented a threat to their way of life. Banks denied loans and took away farm lands. Banks represented the rich people of the East, and was the enemy of the farmer of the South and West.
The National Bank of the United States was a powerful institution. It denied and supplied credit to businesses across the nation. To President Jackson, the Bank was a center of corruption. A place where Senators and Congressmen could be bought in exchange for votes and promises of loans for state projects. Today we would say the Bank was a special interest group, but to Jackson it was a dangerous poison to democracy.
When the Bank's charter was up for re-approval, Jackson let it be known that he would veto the Bill and as a result kill the Bank. The charter passed both the House and the Senate, but when it came to Jackson's desk he vetoed it.
Jackson ordered that funds be removed from the National Bank and spread out to various state banks. Jackson felt that if the money was in state banks it would be more available to the American people. In the time it took for the funds to leave the National Bank and get to the state banks no federal loan could be accessed. By the time the Jackson left office, the country was set up to suffer a deep recession.
Despite the economic problems that would hit the country, many Americans cheered Jackson's destruction of the Bank. This action would cement the belief that he was a champion of the American people.
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