ABSTRACT

In the 19th century United States of America, the long-term operation of two central banks remained unsuccessful after their explicit 20-year privileges expired without renewal. The political and legal destruction of the second institution, the Second Bank of the United States, marked a particular chapter in American political and legal history, known as the ‘Bank War’ during the 1830s. This conflict arose between President Andrew Jackson and bank president Nicholas Biddle, along with their supporters, who fought over the legislative extension of the bank’s privileges that were set to expire in 1836. Jackson opposed this extension, aiming to undermine the bank, which he considered politically and economically too dangerous, influential, and harmful from a political and economic point of view. In the first half of the 1830s, the Bank War was fought by the political and financial elite. Since the Bank’s privileges were not renewed, they expired in 1836, so Biddle and his supporters failed to achieve their goal. The old financial circles were more connected to Philadelphia (specifically Chestnut Street), while the emerging groups gravitated towards New York’s Wall Street, changing the location of the American financial centre. This study aims to present the legal and political struggles of the Bank War, using the relevant literature

keywords

history of banking  | Bank War | Second Bank of the United States | Andrew Jackson | Nicholas Biddle

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