US History

U.S. History Study Guide

©2018 of 194 west. An estimated four thousand Cherokees died during the relocation, staggering along the Trail of Tears from Georgia to Oklahoma originally but grew to cover many other parts. The phrase "Trail of Tears" or as the Cherokees call it, "The Trail Where They Cried" also refers to the plight of many other Native American tribes, including the Choctaw Nation, all of whom suffered thousands of deaths in their removal from their lands. The Trail of Tears extended from many different parts of the U.S. throughout the territories and into the far West and Upper North or the far South. If any of the Chieftains where insubordinate they were shipped to a Spanish Prison in the South of Florida. 10.9 The Bank War In 1816, the Second Bank of the United States received a twenty-year charter from Congress. In 1832, four years before the charter expired, Congress approved a recharter but Jackson issued the Bank veto, denouncing the Bank as unfriendly to the interests of the West. The Bank of the United States had operated under the direction of Nicholas Biddle since 1823. Many of the Bank’s enemies opposed it simply because it was big and powerful. Many still disputed its constitutionality. Andrew Jackson personified the Bank and unleashed war on it during his second election. 10.10 The Election of 1832 Andrew Jackson angrily voiced his animosity toward the Bank and his intention to destroy it. During the campaign for the presidency in the 1832, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster promoted a bill to recharter the Bank, even though its charter did not expire until 1836. They feared that Jackson would gain support over time and could kill the Bank. Then Congress passed the recharter bill, but Jackson vetoed it. Jackson soundly defeated Henry Clay in the presidential race and he considered his victory a mandate from the people to destroy the Bank. His first move was to remove the federal government’s deposits from Biddle’s vaults and distribute the funds to various state and local banks, called by his critics the “pet banks” because they seemed to be chosen based solely on their allegiance to the Democratic Party. Biddle responded by tightening the credit and calling in loans, hoping to embarrass the government and force a withdrawal by Jackson. In 1836, Jackson further enhanced the power of state banks by signing the Deposit Act, which increased the number of state banks serving as depositories and loosened federal control over the banking system. Despite these changes, Jackson did not succeed in fundamentally altering either the banking system or the use of paper money. Achieve Page 127