Henry L. Watson, in his seminal work “Liberty and Power,” extensively describes the politics of the Jacksonian era. He explains how the early republic quickly found itself politically divided among many competing visions of the future. The United States has always been a diverse place with very diverse interests. From the beginning, the federal government acted through a series of rigorous compromises, including the several layered controversy that is the National Bank re-charter. Watson describes that, "Jackson felt the advance of commerce, banking, and industry tended to undermine the independence, virtue, and equality that made the republic possible" (Watson p.133). Since the National Bank was made up of many financiers out of London and New York, many Southerners held the same belief as Jackson that this foreign entity had too much influence on the American government. These entities took control over the currency that the Congress was allocated and gave it to a private bank. Not only did Jackson veto the bank's re-charter, he opposed anything that could not be justified unless the strictest reading of the Constitution was used. Jackson opposed popular internal improvements like the C&O canal because they unfairly allocated funds to states and companies. Jackson’s priority as president was to pay off the federal debt at any cost. He saw a dangerous, slippery slope in an open interpretation of the powers allocated to the government in the Constitution.

If you look, there are only two presidents from the North up to Andrew Jackson. Both have the last name Adams. Politically, the South had more power at the federal level in the early history of the republic. John Adams' late appointments of federalist judges ensured a legal structure that was opposed to the popular position of the Southern political majority. Deadlock ensued. Jackson's election as a member of a single issue political party marks the emergence of social mandates. For example, Jackson’s platform was, "I oppose the National Bank's re-charter. If elected, I will veto it". This was a milestone in America's political history. Polarizing issues would now attract people to parties. Well defined regional political identities would begin to be established. People who supported Jackson saw the National Bank as a threat to freedom and individual liberty. The greatest fear of a farmer was to lose his land to the bank.

Jackson thought concentrated power like the Bank of the United States was not only corrupt, but dangerous. It was deemed unconstitutional by strict interpreters of the Constitution who carefully read article one, section eight, specifically these lines concerning congressional power:

"Congress has the power... To borrow money on the credit of the United States;"

"To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;"

"To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;"

The Constitution says that the Congress has the power to do these things, but it does not say how it should get them done. Hamilton, the architect of the National Bank, saw that the only way to effectively regulate the currency was under a British model, which included a national bank. A strict interpreter saw the existence of the bank as a way for a concentrated power, like this national bank, as an entity that takes the power to coin and regulate the value of currency. When the National Bank prints money, Congress and the elected officials acquiesce to the authority of the un-elected bank.

The other argument concerning federal authority and allocation of funds comes up when Henry Clay (a great rival of Jackson) introduced a bill to build the Mayesveille Road in Kentucky. Originally, Roads had been created and funded with federal monies to facilitate postal delivery between the states. This justification was later used in the construction of the massive C&O canal. The Mayesveille Road was argued as being unconstitutional because the Constitution states that, "the Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States." The logic being that an internal improvement connecting states falls within this authority. However, one lying within the borders of a single state would not. Jackson saw that federal funding of individual state or local projects went around what he called, “the authority of the natural Aristocracy.” Jackson believed that if a state wanted an interior road that did not connect to another state, they had to find the funds through state taxes.

Watson argues that Jackson's big victories over corruption, "did little or nothing to slow the growth and proliferation... [of] trusts and monied corporations emerging in the nation” (Watson 171). So in a TLDR: Jackson was a strict interpreter of the construction who believed that only congress had the authority to print money.

Works Cited:

Watson, Henry L. Liberty and Power. Hill and Wagg, New York, NY. (1990).

The Constitution of the United States of America. Applewood Books Ed, Bedford Ma. (1791).

Hello everyone,

In this thread, there have been a large number of incorrect, speculative, or otherwise disallowed comments, and as such, they were removed by the mod-team. Please, before you attempt answer the question, keep in mind our rules concerning in-depth and comprehensive responses. Answers that do not meet the standards we ask for will be removed.

Additionally, it is unfair to the OP to further derail this thread with off topic conversation, so if anyone has further questions or concerns, I would ask that they be directed to modmail, or a META thread. Thank you!

To add to /u/RMFN's answer:

In the early days of the republic, many of the political clashes came down to the economic differences between the industrializing north, the plantation owners in the South, and the farmers in the West.

One of the biggest economic problems in the early US was that land speculation routinely boomed and busted, taking the economy with it. (The Trail of Tears was a result of finding gold in Georgia, for example). The Bank's duty of managing the economy and the money supply directly affected people's ability to get in on land speculation (if you read up on politicians of the time, many of them were involved in one way or another). Prior to Nicholas Biddle's term as president, the Second Bank essentially screwed up by fueling a bubble and then mishandling the bust, cratering the land speculation market.

Jackson was a land speculator from 1794, and was one of the investors behind Memphis, TN in 1819, which would have been when the Second Bank was being pilloried for mismanaging the Panic of 1819 and the subsequent recovery. So it may well have also been personal (either for him, or his associates).