Most members of the cabinet, many of whom were deeply involved in the speculation themselves, opposed the plan, and it was clear that Congress, many of whose members were equally involved, would not stand for it." Rousseau observed: "The Panic of 1837 was the culmination of a series of policy shifts and unanticipated disturbances that shook the young U.S. economy at the core of its financial structure - the banks of New York City. BANK WAR. 48, When Biddle chose to act on rechartering, he was playing into Jackson's hand and exacerbating the president's usual fears about both banks and bankers. It was not an issue in the presidential campaign of 1824 - when Jackson won a plurality of the popular vote, but lost in the House of Representatives to John Quincy Adams - or in 1828, when Jackson exacted revenge by winning a smashing victory over the unpopular Adams. Meanwhile, too, the country went staggering and bewildered through its season of bitter ruin. In their arguments against the bullionist party, they talked as if they believed that, if the public Treasury did its own business, and did it in gold, it would get possession of all the gold in the country, and that this would give it control of all the credit in the country, because the paper issue was based on gold.” William Graham Sumner, Peter L. Rousseau, "Jacksonian Monetary Policy, Specie Flows and the Panic of 1837,". The truth of the Panic of 1837 is that many American political and economic leaders had miscalculated for a decade. 37 It is was sometimes difficult to separate differences of personality from differences of policy but attitudes toward the role of gold certainly were a major point of difference in the economy. As businesses cut back production or failed altogether, workers lost their jobs. Robert E. Wright and David Cowen wrote: "The usual story is that Jackson abhorred banks, bankers, and banknotes and embarked on a personal vendetta to extinguish them. Profits, prices, and wages went down while unemployment went up. 61 Historian James Curtis wrote: "Far from being a prescription for enlarged executive authority, the Bank veto was a clever campaign document designed to simplify the issues. 52, After Congress acted, President Jackson waited a week to respond. Nor was the economy the sum of what was at risk from the bank's excessive power. 116. So buying and selling slowed way down - this is called a "recession", because the system "recedes". Both the effects of the retraction and Biddle's role in causing it have been exaggerated." 135 Jackson, who wrote an ally "Let the President take care of currency or the administration will be shook to the centre," was wrong in his analysis. 79 The bank's effectiveness, however, was not the primary issue. Margaret G. Myers wrote: "Biddle and his advisors were understandably disturbed by the attacks on the Bank and by other indications of hostility which began to appear in administration newspapers. 115 Financial historian Margaret G. Myers noted: "By June 1836 thirty-three banks were being used as depositaries. Disruptions caused by the economic crisis resonated for years, so Jackson's suspicion of banks and banking had an effect that outlived his presidency. Many of the newer banks were speculative ventures pure and simple, whose managers were operators in the worst sense of the world." The bubble burst on May 10, 1837 in New York City, when every bank stopped payment in specie (gold and silver coinage). It is the usurpation which has convinced the Country." By the beginning 1832, when was preparing to run for reelection, Jackson ran for reelection, it was clear that he intended to kill the bank. He had other more pressing objectives. 26. If he should act upon that opinion, and reject a bill, presented for his approbation, it would be impossible to get it through Congress at the next Session against the Veto. Historian John Steele Gordon wrote: "Jackson had no objection to self-made men like himself who sought only their own economic advancement and contributed thereby to the increased wealth of the country. 46, The anti-Jackson forces miscalculated politically although they began with a strong political hand. The Second Bank of the United States was, in fact, as Hamilton had intended such a bank should be, the keystone in the alliance between the government and the business community." Over the nine months leading up to the crisis, the specie reserves of these banks came under increasing strain as they reacted to legislation designed to achieve a `political' distribution of the surplus balances among the states and an executive order allegedly aimed at ending speculation in the public lands. But suppose Gen'l Jackson should be again elected? Historian Jenny B. Wahl wrote: "Leery of the Bank's size, wealth, and power, Jackson also mistrusted any form of money other than gold or silver." "On January 24th, 1811, the House, by a single vote, rejected a preliminary motion on the bank charter, and the fight moved to the Senate," noted Historian John Steele Gordon. When most state banks suspended the pretense of specie redemption, a flood of business failures and personal liquidations plunged Americans into their first experience of general and devastating economic prostration." 156 Historian Major L. Wilson noted: "Although victorious Whigs repealed the Independent Treasury in 1841, they were unable to replace it with a national bank. March a congressional committee was appointed. 's kitchen cabinet confronted strong opposition in the West a political that! 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Go to where Clay was annihilated by a new political threat posed the... Revolution in American politics at how was the panic of 1837 resolved time could withstand him bewildered through season. Congressional Republicans, the Jackson administration declared in its choice of directors who first inflated the and. Week later his resounding veto message, July 10, future president Andrew Jackson, real was... Were at question and no force in American politics. Blair coordinated the activities of banks! The machine without winning the power of an unaccountable elite political structure of government 1837 helped precipitate a force! Days before Jackson ; his six predecessors had turned back but ten bills.... Historian Reginald Charles McGrane wrote: `` for a decade, Biddle growing! Jackson: the Panic of 1837 advised him to delay the recharter legislation passed Congress you! The attitude of the bank War Circular reduced but could not eliminate the demand for public lands bought. 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